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NO.  94-82051- 11 


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Author: 


Mallette,  Robert  Clark 


Title: 


Starting  a  printing-office 


Place: 


Waterbury 

Date: 

1902 


MASTER    NEGATIVE    # 


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Startin^'"  a  printinfjf-office ;  being  a  hand-l)()()k  for  those 
al)oiit  to  establisli  themselves  in  the  j)rinting  business 
and  for  those  alreadv  established;  bv  Robert  C.  Mallette 
and  Willi;^.in  II.  Jackson,  ll.  h.  Waterbnry,  Conn.,  The 
Jackson  (piick  ])rintin,2:  company,  1002. 

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LIBRARY 


PRESENTED  BY 

THE  ALUMNI  FUND 
COMMITTEE 

FROM  THE  LIBRARY  OF 

CLIFFORD  GRAY,  '02S. 
1924 


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STARTING     A 
PRINTING-OFFICE 


BEING  A  HAND-BOOK   FOR   THOSE   ABOUT   TO 
ESTABLISH  THEMSELVES  IN  THE  PRINT- 
ING BUSINESS  AND  FOR  THOSE 
ALREADY  ESTABLISHED 


BY 


ROBERT   C.    MALLETTE 


AND 


WILLIAM    H.   JACKSON,  LL.B. 


Waterbury,  Connecticut 
Published  by  The  Jackson  Quick  Printing  Company 

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Copyright,  1902,  by  R.  C.  Mallettc 
and  W.  H.  Jackson 


3Gb 


OUR   REASONS 


The  crying  need  of  the  day  is  for  men  who  are  prac- 
tical— men  who  can  do  things  themselves  and  also  so 
dired  the  efforts  of  other  men  that  the  latter's  toil  shall 
bring  increase  of  comfort  to  them  as  well  as  greater  emolu- 
ment and  honor  and  fame  to  those  who  guide  them. 
That  comparatively  so  few  printers  are  found  in  the  ranks 
of  these  captains  of  industry  is  more  due,  we  believe,  to 
the  fad  of  lack  of  early  proper  business  training  and  later 
proper  business  experience  than  to  any  other  cause.  To 
better  this  regrettable  condition  of  affairs,  and  to  aid 
worthy  printers  to  so  assist  themselves  as  to  upbuild  and 
strengthen  the  fabric  of  their  business,  has  been  our  sole 
objed  in  writing  these  pages.  Nothing  here  is  theoretical 
— it  is  all  in  the  fullest  sense  pradical.  The  book  is  but 
the  history  of  our  own  office.  Every  sentence  is  built 
upon  an  adual  occurrence  in  the  routine  work  of  the 
men  who  prove  in  their  daily  labor  the  corredness  of  the 
system  which  we  have  perfeded  and  whose  merits  are 

herein  set  forth. 

It  may  not  be  amiss  to  add  that  the  authors  have  each 
had  experience  for  a  score  of  years  and  more  at  case  and 
press  and  desk,  and  that  Mr.  Mallette  has  been  a  contribu- 
tor to  printers'  trade  journals  and  other  publications,  while 
Mr.  Jackson  has  supplemented  his  pradical  training  by  a 
legal  course  at  Yale  University. 


I 


Press  of  The  Jackson  Quick  Print 
Watcrbury,  Connecticut 


CONTENTS 


I  The  Printer  as  a  Business  Man 

II  Selection  and  Location  of  Plant 

III  The  Business-Office 

IV  The  Composing-Room 

V  The  Press-Room 

VI  Light,  Power  and  Heat 

VII  The  Stock-Room 

VIII  The  Book  of  Samples 

IX  Entering  the  Order 

X  The  Job  in  Process 

XI  Determining  Cost 

XII  Bookkeeping 

XIII  Preparing  and  Giving  Estimates 

XIV  Collections  and  Payments 

XV  Advertising  and  Office  Stationery 

XVI  Employer  and  Employees 

XVII  Small  Economies  and  Time-Savers 
Advertisements 


9 

17 

21 

28 

32 
36 

40 

43 
47 
50 
58 

63 
68 

74 
80 

85 
89 


STARTING  A  PRINTING-OFFICE 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  PRINTER  AS  A  BUSINESS  MAN 

GRUFF  old  Dr.  Johnson  it  may  well  have  been 
who  answered  a  question  as  to  when  a  child's  edu- 
cation should  begin  by  saying,  "  Forty  years  before 
Its  birth,  madam  !  "  Almost  equally  early  should  begin  the 
education  and  training  of  the  man  who  is  to  found  and 
condud  a  printing  office — who  is  to  do  "Printing  for 
Profit"  and  become  something  more  than  a  beginner  in 
the  printing  business.  Not  that  master  printers  of  tomor- 
row are  likely  to  be  able  to  trace  to  pre-natal  influences 
the  success  which  it  is  assumed  will  be  theirs  ;  but  from 
the  moment  of  his  entry  into  a  printing-office  as  appren- 
tice a  boy  should  be  given  such  education  and  training  as 
will  not  only  make  of  him  a  competent  and  skillful  jour- 
neyman,— a  master  of  the  trade  as  a  trade, — but  as  com- 
plementary to  this  will  give  him  also  that  knowledge  of 
commercial  forms  and  usages,  that  grasp  of  methods  of 
business,  which  alone  can  make  of  him  one  competent 
and  skillful  as  a  manager, —  a  master  of  the  trade  as  a 
business. 

This  can  be  done  only  by  the  co-operation  of  the  youth 
with  those  who  instrud:  him  in  the  technical  mysteries  of 
the  trade,  and  his  equally  ready  and  sincere  co-operation 


lO 


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with  those  who  would  teach  him  the  deeper,  more  vital 
principles  of  the  business.  And  this  co-operation  must 
continue  without  cessation,  else  will  both  instrudor  and 
instruded  fail  of  best  results,  or  results  even  passable. 

Not  one  printing-house  proprietor  in  a  thousand  but 
thinks  he  does  his  whole  duty  to  the  apprentice  by  teach- 
ing him  the  trade  in  the  three  years  the  youth  is  supposed 
to  be  "learning.**  Very  many  of  these  proprietors  are 
earnest,  sincere,  competent,  both  as  printers  and  instruc- 
tors. They  give  the  best  they  have  to  the  "  kids,"  and  a 
feeling  of  comity  and  hearty  good-fellowship  grows  up 
between  them,  often  unbroken   by  years   and   distance. 

But that  is  all.  To  suggest  that  the  apprentice  should 

be  given  in  addition  an  idea  of  cost  and  value  of  printing, 
an  insight  into  methods  of  carrying  on  business,  an  ade- 
quate conception  of  the  pitfalls  that  line  the  path  and  the 
means  experience  has  shown  most  desirable  for  their  avoid- 
ance—  to  suggest  this  would  be  to  invite  "  the  loud  laugh 
of  scorn."  Yet  negligence  or  refusal  to  give  such  instruc- 
tion is  diredly  responsible  for  a  vast  amount  of  the  price- 
cutting,  the  heart-burning,  the  profit-losing,  the  sheriff- 
coming,  that  mar  the  fair  field  of  printing  today.  Educate 
apprentice  and  journeyman — give  each  as  thorough  know- 
ledge of  procedure  at  the  desk  as  at  the  case  or  the  press 

and  two  things,  greatly  to  be  desired,  will  soon  come  to 

pass :  Fewer  unprepared  workmen  will  yield  to  the  desire 
to  "start  a  little  office,"  and  those  who  do  branch  out  for 
themselves  will  be  so  much  better  prepared  that  both 
they  and  their  former  employers  will  be  in  position  to  do 
finer  work  at  more  consistent  and  satisfadory  prices  and 
at  greater  profits. 

The  eager  apprentice  with  a  desire  for  an  office  of  his 


STARTING  A  PRINTING-OFFICE 


II 


own  ;  the  skillful  journeyman  who  longs  for  freedom  from 
foremen  and  for  opportunity  to  work  as  he  likes  with  tools 
that  are  delightful  because  his  own ;  the  competent  fore- 
man who  feels  that  "his  Utica  is  pent"  and  his  powers 
and  abilities  long  enough  given  to  others, — to  these,  all, 
are  the  following  pages  addressed.  It  is  assumed  that  each 
is  a  faithful  and  conscientious  workman  and  that  he  has 
technical  ability  sufficient  to  enable  him  to  take  and  hold 
positions  requiring  skill  and  judgment  and  the  ability  to 
manage  men. 

And  not  these  only  do  we  address,  but  as  well  the  mul- 
titude of  printers,  some  no  longer  young,  who  struggle 
to  carry  on  the  plants  they  have  purchased  or  established. 
Numbers  of  them  work  far  harder  than  do  any  of  their 
employees,  and  for  what  is  adually  a  smaller  wage.  Finan- 
cial returns  are  unsatisfactory,  the  outlook  Is  discouraging, 
the  future  as  well  as  the  present  is  mortgaged,  and  little 
else  remains  than  pride  which  will  not  acknowledge  defeat. 
Frequently  this  has  come  about  through  lack  of  proper 
training  and  of  a  suitable  system  whereby  the  business 
might  be  conduded.  For  these,  whether  the  office  be  large 
or  small,  the  plan  we  are  describing  Is  most  admirably 
adapted. 

In  this  connedlon  let  us  quote  from  an  article  by  Mr. 
Charles  Gillett  in  the  National  Printer- Journalist ; 

The  printer  begins,  in  most  instances,  as  apprentice  in  a  well-established 
and  successfully-condufted  shop.  He  devotes  the  best  years  of  his  youth 
to  learning  the  trade — not  the  business — and  it  is  small  wonder  that  when 
he  accumulates  enough  money  to  commence  his  business  career  he  finds 
himself  minus  business  ability.  The  supply  man  encourages  him  to  go  in 
for  himself,  pointing  out  this  and  that  successful  firm  that  began  with  small 
capital;  and  with  his  star  of  hope  high  in  the  heavens  he  launches  out  into 
the  sea  of  business  adivity,  only  to  find  after  a  ^t^  weeks  that  "prices 


i 


12 


STARTING  A  PRINTING-OFFICE 


have  all  gone  to  blazes/*  His  first  "basis"  fails  to  catch  orders.  Perhaps 
his  first  cut  helps  a  little,  but  in  most  cases  if  he  gets  his  share  of  floating 
business  it  is  only  after  his  **  basis"  has  been  mutilated  beyond  recognition. 
Meantime  he  is  beginning  to  heartily  despise  his  competitors.  His  former 
employer  gives  him  a  quiet  or  a  violent  *'  roast,"  according  to  the  charac- 
ter of  the  man.  His  former  associates,  if  they  happen  to  be  his  present 
competitors,  treat  him  like  a  horse-thief.  He  begins  to  "bristle  up"  and 
before  long  he  is  engaged  in  the  merry  occupation  of  cutting  and  slashing 
with  the  best  of  them.  And  the  remedy  for  this  condition  ?  Association! 
Let  the  most  aggressive  competitors  be  thrown  together  in  the  ranks  of  an 
association,  where  a  friendly  spirit  prevails;  where  ways  and  means  of  im- 
proving conditions  are  discussed;  where  "old  times"  are  talked  over;  and 
in  faa  where  "friendship  reigns" — and  the  keen  edge  of  competition  will 
soon  wear  away.  It  may  take  a  long  time  to  bring  about  a  complete  reform, 
and  stronger  and  more  comprehensive  organizations  than  we  now  have  may 
be  necessary  before  the  price-cutting  habit  and  its  attendant  evils  will  be 
eliminated,  but  my  personal  experience  testifies  that  association  alone  accom- 
plishes a  great  deal  of  good,  and  until  a  better  plan  is  offered  "let  the 
good  work  go  on." 

And  for  this  association,  this  commingling  of  ideas,  this 
community  of  interests,  there  exists  even  greater  need 
before  the  printer  shall  have  launched  out  upon  the  un- 
known deep  of  business  trials  and  experiences  than  later. 


STARTING  A  PRINTING-OFFICE 


«3 


CHAPTER    II 

SELECTION  AND    LOCATION  OF  PLANT 

• 

IMPORTANT  as  this  is,  one  thing  yet  more  import- 
ant should  first  be  decided, — the  amount  of  money 
to  be  invested.  This  is  of  pressing  moment;  it  de- 
mands far  more  thought  than  is  ever  given  it  by  a  majority 
of  printers,  or,  indeed,  tradesmen  in  general.  More  than 
thirty  per  cent,  (practically  one-third)  of  all  business  fail- 
ures in  the  United  States  are  caused  diredly  by  lack  of 
capital;  insufficient  at  starting,  insufficient  to  carry  the 
business  until  money  could  be  colleded  for  work  done, 
insufficient  to  satisfy  the  sheriff  when  he  called.  Better, 
far  better,  a  small  office  paid  for  and  a  surplus  in  bank 
than  a  larger  office  garnished  with  mortgages  and  deco- 
rated with  notes,  also  a  continuous  ambi-dextrous  perform- 
ance to  meet  the  payroll  on  the  one  hand  and  the  interest 
and  principal  on  "paper"  on  the  other. 

It  has  been  our  observation  that  a  printer  who  desires 
to  engage  in  business  for  himself  should  have  not  less 
than  ^looo  in  cash,  and  S3000  is  better.  With  this  he 
can  procure  an  outfit  well  equipped  for  the  economical 
production  of  all  the  general  run  of  commercial  and  society 
work,  fill  his  stock  room  with  paper,  and  still  have  a  bal- 
ance at  his  banker's  to  enable  him  to  meet  bills  promptly 
and  take  advantage  of  all  cash  discounts.  It  will  not  buy 
a  big  cylinder  nor  a  Mergenthaler.  The  latter  is  useless 
in  such  an  office,  the  former  will  hardly  pay  unless  kept 


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constantly  busy,  and  this  is  not  to  be  expeded.  But  what- 
ever sum  is  to  be  invested,  not  more  than  seventy-five  or 
eighty  per  cent,  should  be  spent  at  the  outset,  the  remain- 
der being  banked  as  working  capital.  He  who  has  money 
has  all  the  credit  in  the  world ;  he  who  has  none,  or  has 
it  all  tied  up  in  his  business,  has  no  credit,  or  very  little, 
vet  he  may  be  quite  as  deserving  as  the  other.  Unless  the 
ambitious  journeyman  can  command  at  least  $2000,  it 
were  well  for  him  to  curb  his  ambition  until  such  time  as 
that  sum  is  at  his  disposal. 

Having,  then,  sufficient  capital,  the  question  is  that  of 
location.  If  a  man  be  a  life-long  resident  of  a  prosperous 
city,  his  personal  popularity  will  be  so  valuable  an  asset 
that,  other  things  being  equal,  he  can  do  far  better  there 
than  where  he  is  a  stranger.  Confidence  is  a  plant  of  slow- 
est growth,  and  the  confidence  reposed  in  him  by  those 
who  may  become  customers  and  patrons  is  an  exceedingly 
strong  fador  in  the  success  of  any  printer.  Yet  if  larger 
opportunities  present  themselves  in  fields  near  or  remote, 
it  is  but  prudent  to  embrace  them.  It  is  not  wise  to  buy 
or  start  an  office  in  a  town  that  is  retrograding,  or  even  at 
standstill,  nor  in  a  place  so  small  that  the  amount  of  work 
is  scanty  and  irregular.  It  has  become  an  axiom  that  one 
must  go  to  a  busy  printer  to  get  work  done  quickly  ;  so 
should  the  printer  locate  in  a  busy  place,  where,  possibly, 
there  are  many  busy  printers,  to  obtain  more  quickly  the 
volume  of  business  necessary  to  keep  his  plant  running  at 
capacity  and  his  bank  account  above  low-water  mark. 

Circumstances  of  each  case  alone  can  determine  the  rel- 
ative merits  of  purchasing  a  plant  or  of  starting  one  quite 
new.  Each  has  commendable  features,  in  the  one,  cus- 
tomers and  class  of  trade  already  won,  work  in  process, 


STARTING  A  PRINTING-OFFICE 


»5 


material  ready  for  instant  use;  in  the  other,  the  beauty 
and  cleanliness  and  attradtiveness  of  new  machinery  and 
equipments.  Frequently  it  is  well  to  acquire  an  interest 
in  an  established  plant,  devoting  part  of  the  capital  to  the 
purchase  of  such  new  material  as  the  office  most  needs. 
This  is  really,  in  many  cases,  the  plan  most  advantageous 
for  all  parties,  and  it  is  commended  alike  to  those  about 
to  engage  in  business  and  those  already  established  whose 
ventures  would  be  bettered  by  the  infusion  of  new  blood 
and  brains  and  capital. 

The  city  chosen,  the  locality  demands  attention.  This 
should  be  central  and  accessible ;  on  the  main  business 
street  or  not  more  than  a  block  away,  and  as  near  street 
level  as  possible.  Sometimes  a  small  store  can  be  secured 
for  office  and  stationery,  the  work-rooms  being  relegated 
to  a  portion  of  the  building  not  so  expensive  yet  within 
instant  reach  by  speaking-tube,  copy-chute,  and  stairway 
or  elevator.  When  this  cannot  be  had,  get  large  and  well- 
lighted  rooms  on  the  second  floor,  or  even  the  third  if 
in  good  quarters,  at  the  head  of  the  staircase  or  adjoining 
the  elevator  shaft.  Best  results  for  light  and  ventilation 
are  usually  obtained  in  rooms  facing  south.  The  arrange- 
ment of  the  different  departments  requires  careful  thought 
and  must  depend  largely  upon  conditions  confronting  each 
individual ;  but  in  a  general  way  the  matter  will  be  dis- 
cussed in  the  chapters  devoted  to  the  various  rooms. 

Remember  that  greatest  success  is  achieved  by  him  who 
knows  one  thing  thoroughly  and  does  it  well.  Concen- 
trate ;  avoid  diffuseness ;  fix  thoughts  on  one  high  goal 
and  press  strongly  on  till  that  be  won.  Specialize  the 
plant ;  learn  what  can  be  done  better  there  than  elsewhere. 
Devote  tireless  energy  to  the  perfedion  of  this  specialty. 


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Tell  the  people  about  it  until  they  become  filled  with  the 
belief  that  at  this  one  printery  alone  can  they  obtain  what 
is  best,  or  indeed  anything  that  is  satisfadory,  in  this  par- 
ticular line.   It  is  not  meant  that  no  work  should  be  taken 
save  of  this  especial  class,  nor  that  every  job  shall  conform 
to  arbitrary  rules.    Rather,  as  will  be  shown  later,  each 
job  should  be  treated  alone,  as  a  distind  entity.   But  there 
should  be  courage  to  decline  work  for  which  the  plant  is 
not  properly  equipped,  or  work  that  requires  special  facil- 
ities not  enjoyed  by  the  average  office.  Customers  bring- 
ing such  orders  should  be  directed  to  an  office  capable  of 
producing  the  work  economically,  it  being  explained  that 
the  facilities  at  hand  do  not  allow  it  to  be  done  at  a  price 
that  is  both  remunerative  to  the  printer  and  satisfactory 
to  the  customer.    Let  it  be  understood,  however,  that  a 
continuance  is  expeded  of  that  work  for  which  the  plant 

is  best  fitted. 

Keep  well  in  mind  this  matter  of  specialization,  whether 
for  a  new  plant  or  old,  and  make  material  and  machinery 
conform  to  the  uses  to  which  they  will  be  put.  Do  not 
hesitate  to  discard  useless  or  obsolete  tools  and  replace 
them  with  modern  devices,  labor-saving  and  adapted  to 
the  peculiar  needs  of  the  plant  under  consideration. 


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»7 


CHAPTER    III 


THE  BUSINESS  OFFICE 


MAKE  your  friends  feel  that  you  are  glad  to  see 
them.  Have  the  office  large  and  light  and  cheer- 
ful;  see  that  it  is  home-like  to  those  who  come 
frequently,  business-like  to  those  who  enter  for  the  first 
time.  On  the  walls  hang  a  few  pidures,  or  framed  samples 
of  printing  of  more  than  ordinary  merit,  or  press  notices 
concerning  the  plant  and  its  productions.  The  floor  should 
be  oiled  or  stained ;  a  rug  or  two  may  be  laid  down ;  walls 
and  ceiling  papered  in  pleasing  shades,  softening  the  sun- 
light without  seeming  garish  or  too  ornate ;  woodwork  of 
ash  or  golden  oak,  chandeliers  or  eledric  fixtures  and  all 
brasswork  polished ;  windows  and  ground-glass  scrupu- 
lously clean.  These  seem  small  details,  but  they  are  such 
as  mark  the  division  between  enterprise  and  carelessness, 
cleanliness  and  slovenliness,  often  success  and  failure.  A 
lasting  impression  of  the  concern,  its  capabilities,  its  en- 
ergy and  enterprise,  gained  by  a  stranger,  is  often  obtained 
within  those  few  seconds  that  his  eyes  rove  over  the  busi- 
ness office  and  its  adjunds.  So  difficult  is  it  to  eradicate 
or  even  modify  an  unfavorable  opinion  thus  formed  that 
every  effort  should  be  made  to  create  and  maintain  a  feel- 
ing of  confidence — a  sense  of  satisfadion — in  the  minds 
of  all  who  enter  the  business  office  of  a  printery. 

But  while  greetings  hearty  and  cordial  are  given  friend 
and  stranger,  neither  should  be  allowed  free  access  to  the 


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19 


establishment  as  a  whole.  It  is  well  to  have  a  low  parti- 
tion and  counter  across  the  end  of  the  office,  allowing  of 
course  ample  space  both  before  and  behind  the  counter 
for  transaction  of  business  with  the  transient  and  the  hasty 
visitor.  This  partition  may  be  of  either  stair-baluster  con- 
strudion  or  of  brass  or  iron  grill-work,  about  three  feet 
high  and  having  a  gate  closed  and  locked  by  automatic 
spring.  On  the  counter  put  pads,  pencils,  specimens  of 
printing,  and  the  like,  and  a  bell  for  use  should  no  one  be 
in  the  room  when  customers  call.  Here  a  great  number 
of  small  orders  may  be  taken. 

On  occasion,  however,  there  enters  the  lady  who  wishes 
a  chic  program,  or  the  manufacturer  who  desires  estimates 
on  his  new  catalogue,  or  the  city  official  who  finds  that  he 
must  have  some  blanks  without  delay.  These  and  many 
others  should  have  the  "open  sesame;"  they  should  be 
admitted  behind  the  gate,  seated  at  a  long,  baize-covered 
table,  and  provided  with  every  facility  for  the  prompt  and 
pleasant  transadion  of  their  business.  Also,  there  might 
be  copies  of  trade  papers  and  a  handful  of  unusually  fine 
specimens  of  the  best  work  the  office  can  do,— all  this  in 
the  line  of  inspiration.  Close  by  should  be  the  desk  of 
the  manager,  containing  information  on  all  conceivable 
subjects  having  to  do  with  printing,  properly  filed  and 
fully  indexed,  so  that  any  question  which  may  arise  can 
be  answered  without  hesitation. 

And  for  this  no  other  system  of  indexing  or  filing  can 
equal  the  card  index.  It  may  be  applied  to  catalogues, 
price-lists,  samples  of  printing  and  engraving,  engage- 
ments, correspondence,  invoices,  mail-lists,  lists  of  pros- 
pedive  or  desirable  customers,— in  brief,  to  almost  every 
detail  of  any  business,  whether  small  or  great.    By  its  use 


reference  may  be  had  instantly  to  any  feature  of  any  detail 
of  the  business,  recent  or  remote,  in  any  department. 
Consider  for  an  instant  the  saving  thus  effeCted  !  Only  a 
short  while  required  to  prepare  the  cards,  only  a  moment 
to  correct  them  to  date.  No  hunting  aimlessly  for  a  cata- 
logue mislaid  or  destroyed — it  is  found  instantly ;  no 
frantic  searching  for  copy  and  proof  of  a  job  on  which 
customer  claims  allowance  because  of  error — the  index 
shows  just  where  to  find  both  and  may  prove  the  error  to 
have  been  the  customer's,  hence  no  allowance ;  no  dash- 
ing through  ledger  and  journal  to  learn  when  Smith  had 
the  next-to-last  lot  of  special  billheads — the  date  and  job 
number  are  at  one's  finger-tips  ;  no  wondering  when  Jones 
promised  to  settle  his  past-due  account — the  card  will 
tell.  In  time,  in  comfort  and  convenience,  in  accuracy,  in 
the  satisfaction  that  flows  from  doing  business  in  business- 
like ways,  he  who  uses  the  card  index  is  saving  daily  the 
total  cost  of  its  installation  and  maintenance. 

See  that  desk  and  table  and  counter  are  always  clean 
and  neatly  arranged,  and  that  the  manager's  desk  is  a 
model  of  order  and  system.  Loose  papers,  never  allowed 
to  litter  desk  or  floor,  are  tossed  into  capacious  baskets. 
All  correspondence  should  be  filed  as  soon  as  received, 
unless  an  answer  is  necessary,  when  the  letter  is  placed 
on  a  pin  until  all  mail  is  opened,  then  answered,  marked, 
and  filed.  Invoices,  when  checked  with  a  list  of  goods 
received,  are  filed,  and  statements  compared  with  invoices 
before  O.K.  is  affixed.  Copies  must  be  kept  of  all  letters 
written,  and  this  may  be  done  without  loss  of  time  by 
means  of  an  indexed  pen-carbon  book  which  obviates  use 
of  a  copying-press.  Even  if  a  typewriter  be  used,  a  press 
is  needless,  carbon  copies  being  made  when  writing  and 


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placed  in  the  file  with  other  copies  and  letters  relating  to 
the  same  subjed  or  firm.  But  while  the  advantages  of  a 
typewriter  are  numerous  and  obvious,  such  an  investment 
is  rather  in  the  nature  of  a  luxury  ;  it  is  not  a  necessity  in 
an  establishment  of  this  scope. 

Top  of  safe  and  desk  should  be  reserved  for  the  job- 
ticket  boxes  described  in  a  later  chapter,  for  files  of  recent 
letters,  and  the  like,  but  never  allowed  to  accumulate  odds 
and  ends  of  any  kind.  For  books  of  reference,  trade  jour- 
nals, and  similar  volumes,  a  revolving  bookcase  should 
be  provided.  Here  and  in  every  part  of  the  shop  there 
should  be  strid  insistence  that  every  article  must  be  at 
once  returned  to  its  proper  place  by  the  one  who  uses  it. 


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21 


CHAPTER  IV 


THE   COMPOSING-ROOM 


BUY  type  in  series  of  large  fonts;  keep  type  in  mod- 
ern dustproof  cabinets ;  so  arrange  cabinets  that 
compositors  pass  from  cabinet  to  cabinet  and  from 
cabinet  to  stone  or  rack  in  shortest  time  and  with  least 
effort  possible.  If  equipping  an  office,  buy  only  Wisconsin 
or  Polhemus  closed  cabinets;  if  acquiring  one,  reduce  to 
kindling-wood  all  news  frames  and  job  stands,  those  con- 
sumers of  floor  space  and  increasers  of  rent,  and  replace 
them  with  cabinets,  even  when  stands  may  be  pradically 
as  good  as  new.  This  way  profit  lies,  though  courage  be 
required  to  follow  it.  Not  more  than  twenty-four  cases 
are  in  a  double  job  stand,  open  on  all  six  sides  to  free 
circulation  of  dust  and  baderia.  A  modern  cabinet,  wood 
runs,  holds  forty  cases  free  from  dust  and  germs;  the  use 
of  steel  runs  increases  its  capacity  to  fifty  cases  without 
increasing  floor  space,  which  is  the  same  as  that  required 
by  the  open  stand.  Four  cabinets  hold  almost  as  much 
type  as  nine  stands,  take  less  than  half  as  much  floor 
space,  and  save  at  least  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the  time 
of  compositors  simply  because  of  their  compactness  and 
accessibility. 

On  the  flat  tops  of  these  cabinets  screw  tilting  brackets 
for  body-type  cases,  utilizing  as  a  rest  for  a  double  galley 
the  wooden  support  between  the  lower  secStions  of  the 
brackets.  An  empty  galley  should  be  kept  here  ready  for 


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use;  the  straight-matter  man  need  not  stir  from  his  case 
until  galley  be  filled  or  take  finished.  Then,  instead  of 
laying  the  galley  on  a  case  overflowing  with  type  or  brac- 
ing it  up  on  the  stone,  sHde  it  into  a  rack.  This  may  be 
fastened  to  the  wall,  or  even  the  end  of  a  cabinet  if  not 
in  the  way  of  workmen;  but  it  is  better  to  buy  Polhemus 
cabinets  and  specify  galley  racks  in  one  or  more.  Here 
galleys  of  live  type  may  be  stored,  free  from  dust  or  dan- 
ger, labelled  to  prevent  error  or  confusion.  In  matter  for 
a  regular  publication,  use  at  head  of  each  galley  a  linotype 
slug  with  name  of  paper  and  number  of  galley — thus: 

PAPYRUS GALLEY  ONE 

For  ordinary  use,  where  matter  stands  only  until  proofs 
can  be  returned  and  correded,  simple  slugs  like  this 

GALLEY  ONE 

may  be  used.  Their  cost  is  almost  nothing,  their  utility 
great  as  preventives  of  error  and  savers  of  time. 

It  should  be  as  much  a  part  of  the  routine  work  of  the 
office  to  keep  abreast  of  distribution  as  to  keep  up  with 
composition.  Our  straight-matter  men  make  it  a  point  to 
distribute  a  certain  amount  of  type  daily — usually  late,  so 
the  case  will  be  dry  and  inviting  next  morning.  Not  less 
systematic  should  be  the  distribution  of  job  type.  Indeed, 
stronger  reasons  may  be  cited  in  the  latter  instance,  for 
seldom  is  it  that  body  cases  are  depleted  to  the  extent 
that  seems  normal  with  most  of  the  desirable  faces  in  an 
average  office.  It  would  seem  hardly  necessary,  were  it 
not  so  proven  by  scores  of  instances,  to  say  that  there 
must  be  an  abundance  of  spaces  and  quads  and  leads  and 
slugs  (slugs  are,  in  their  way,  as  important  as  leads,  and 
far  cheaper  than  quads),  and  that  additions  should  be  made 
whenever  demanded  by  increasing  business  or  the  exigen- 


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*3 


cies  of  work  requiring  many  sorts  or  leads.  Often  enough 
time  is  wasted  piecing  leads  to  turn  into  loss  the  profit 
that  should  have  been  derived,  and  but  for  this  wasteful 
economy  would  have  resulted.  Buy  all  the  quads  that 
seem  needed,  and  then  add  thirty  per  cent,  to  the  total. 
Keep  them  in  the  sort  draws  that  may  be  obtained  in  one 
of  the  Polhemus  cabinets  in  lieu  of  galley  racks.  Keep 
leads  in  Boston  or  similar  racks,  the  overflow  in  blank 
cases  subdivided  to  suit.  Keep  labor-saving  brass  in  rule 
cases  (we  prefer  the  quarter-cases  enclosed  in  blank  case) 
and  these,  with  n.f^tal  furniture  case,  rest  on  the  galley  top 
of  double  cabinets.  It  is  poor  economy  to  turn  single  or 
dotted  rule;  buy  "flat"  rule  of  three  or  four  thicknesses 
and  cut  as  required,  but  allow  only  the  foreman  to  cut  or 
miter  leads  or  rule,  and  insist  that  everything  be  measured 
by  picas  and  nonpareils.  A  few  pounds  of  one-point  leads 
are  necessary,  and  a  box  of  brass  and  copper  thin  spaces 
will  repay  its  slight  cost  many  times. 

Arrange  cases  in  cabinets,  and  cabinets  in  order,  so  that 
type  most  used  is  most  accessible.  Series  should  be  to- 
gether; series  correlated  should  also  be  closely  placed. 
But  type-styles  change  as  frequently  and  often  as  myste- 
riously as  fashions  of  women*s  dress,  and  purchases  of  new 
faces  become  necessary.  A  series  was  never  produced  that 
lacked  merit ;  but  the  wise  printer  will  not  buy  new  type 
indiscriminately  merely  because  it  may  happen  to  be  new, 
nor  because  specimen  sheets  from  the  founder  are  noble 
examples  of  typographic  excellence  and  the  design  is  in 
striking  and  attractive  display,  nor  because  the  salesman 
tells  him  it  is  just  what  he  ought  to  have,  nor  because  he 
chances  to  be  in  complacent  mood — in  buying  humor — 
and  the  face  strikes  his  fancy.  Rather,  let  him  consider 


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carefully  the  merits  and  also  the  demerits  of  the  new  style 
and  its  adaptability  to  his  own  work.  A  style  thoroughly 
desirable  for  a  printer  doing  one  class  of  work  would  be 
unsuited  and  almost  useless  to  his  neighbor,  whose  work 
demanded  totally  different  treatment.   Durability  should 
also  be  considered.    Fine  lines,  microscopic  serifs,  deep 
kerns,  open  or  shaded  letters,  are  to  be  avoided  in  choos- 
ing type  for  a  general  utility  office,  such  as  must  be  that 
of  the  great  majority  of  small  printers.   Fortunately,  these 
styles  are  now  not  much  in  vogue.  Nor  should  text  let- 
ters be  indulged  in  freely.   A  series  of  such  as  the  Priory 
or  Caslon  Text,  with  Caslon  oldstyle  and  its  italic,  will 
be  very  useful  for  the  better  grades  of  commercial  work, 
and  will  answer  all  requirements.    Having  these  and   Ro- 
mans, lining  and  condensed  and  extended  Gothics,  the 
DeVinnes  or  Jensons  or  similar  faces,  with  Blair,  Engrav- 
ers* Roman,  script,  and  possibly  a  few  others,  for  station- 
ery headings,  nearly  all  work  can  be  handled  rapidly  and 
easily.  Oldstyle  Antique  is  a  most  useful  letter  in  con- 
jundion  with  oldstyle  Romans;  when  modern  Romans  are 
preferred,  something  in   the  nature  of  an  Ionic  is  best, 
especially  for  side-headings  and  for  full-face  display.  And 
yet,  as  has  been  said,  little  more  than  most  general  outlines 
can  be  given,  because  that  which  fully  suits  one  printer  is 
least  adapted  to  his  neighbor's  use. 

As  one  series  of  type  fades  slowly  from  prominence  and 
is  replaced  by  styles  more  modern  or  more  renascent,  re- 
arrange the  cases  so  that  those  containing  newer  or  more 
popular  type  shall  have  place  of  honor  and  of  easy  reach. 
If  a  year  and  more  shall  pass  without  once  using  the  type 
thus  sent  to  the  rear,  its  usefulness  is  past;  it  cumbereth 
the  ground;  and  the  type-founders'  offer  of  seven  cents 


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25 


a  pound  for  old  metal  applies  perfedly  to  that  particular 
series. 

Allow  no  type  to  lie  about  on  the  stone.  Have  the  stone- 
hand  lock  all  jobs  as  soon  as  the  O.K.  is  received,  and  set 
chase  in  a  rack.  From  this  rack  the  pressman  takes  it 
when  ready  for  the  run.  The  run  completed,  it  should  be 
at  once  unlocked,  placed  on  a  galley  and  washed  thor- 
oughly with  lye.  Then  to  the  dead-board,  unless  indeed  it 
be  a  "standing  job,"  and  of  these  there  should  be  as  few 
as  possible.  Should  a  particular  form  be  re-ordered  so  fre- 
quently as  to  make  it  advisable  to  hold  the  type,  it  would 
be  far  better  to  have  one  or  more  eledlros.  The  cost  is 
small,  the  saving  so  constant  that  the  eledro  soon  pays 
for  itself  and  returns  a  profit  even  though  necessary  to 
send  the  form  out  of  town  to  be  eledrotyped. 

For  a  dead-board  there  can  be  nothing  better  than  the 
letter-boards  obtained  with  modern  imposing-stones.  We 
use  a  Hamilton  stone  40  x  80  inches,  having  forty-eight 
boards  19^  x  22^  inches;  three  sedlions,  twenty-four 
boards,  on  each  side.  These  hold  a  vast  amount  of  tied 
type — at  least  six  or  seven  times  as  much  as  can  be  laid 
on  the  stone  itself;  and  the  type  may  be  either  live  or 
dead.  So  much  space,  indeed,  is  given  by  such  a  stone 
that  frequently  the  boards  on  one  side  are  used  as  drying 
racks  for  sheets  just  off  the  press,  thus  further  economiz- 
ing floor  space.  The  boards  may  be  withdrawn  at  will ; 
but  where  type  is  placed  on  them  it  is  well  to  affix  as  a 
stop  a  long  wire  nail  to  avoid  any  possibility  of  drawing 
the  board  so  far  as  to  pi  its  contents.  If  desired,  boards 
may  be  removed  and  a  drawer  substituted  to  hold  quoins 
(which  must  be  kept  in  a  box,  not  scattered  about),  keys, 
mallet  and  planers;  no  furniture — that  belongs  in  the  fur- 


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niture-case;  no  pi — that  must  be  thrown  in  without  delay 
by  whoever  is  responsible  for  it.  Nor  must  pi  ever  be 
found  on  tops  of  cabinets,  or  windowsills,  or  quad-boxes, 

or  anywhere. 

Allow  no  papers  to  be  scattered — provide  waste-baskets 
even  in  the  composing-room;  have  windows  washed  fre- 
quently, floor  oiled,  side-walls  protected  by  sheets  of  the 
heaviest  manilla,  shades  and  awnings  at  the  windows. 
Above  all,  provide  cuspidors— two  to  each  tobacco-user, 
if  need  be — and  insist  that  they  be  used,  and  that  they 

be  cleaned. 

Pile  no  cases  on  the  floor  or  in  the  corner.   Pay  a  few 
dollars  for  a  roll-front  cabinet  to  hold  upper  and  lower 
cases,  or  a  Porter  extension-front  cabinet  for  job  cases, 
and  keep  them  there,  clean,  dustless,  properly  arranged, 
when  not  in  use.  Of  course  every  case  is  labelled.  The 
discerning  printer  will  also  lay  all  script  and  text  fonts  in 
two-third  cases,  fonts  with  a  large  proportion  of  capitals 
in  California  cases,  and  fonts  of  capitals  only  in  triple 
cases.  Nor  will  he  ever  allow  two  or  more  fonts  to  be  laid 
in  the  same  boxes.   Furthermore,  he  will  have  space-and- 
quad  cases  in  each  alley,  and  keep  them  filled.  Cuts  and 
eledros,  the  property  of  the  office  or  merely  loaned  for  a 
specific  purpose,  are  not  permitted  to  lie  wherever  stone- 
hand  or  distributor  chances  to  drop  them.  The  Hamilton 
Company  makes  compad  and  very  convenient  cabinets, 
containing  twenty  to  sixty  draws  the  size  of  a  type-case, 
with  adjustable  slotted  partitions  so  that  cuts  of  diff'erent 
sizes  may  be  stored  without  loss  of  space.  Some  of  these 
have  metal  numbers  on  the  cases  and  divisions  are  indi- 
cated by  letter  and  number,  so  that  a  cut  placed  anywhere 
within  the  cabinet  and  properly  entered  in  the  index-book 


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27 


which  accompanies,  may  be  found  instantly.  This  cabinet 
is  as  essential  and  almost  as  constantly  used  as  a  compos- 
ing-stick. The  latter,  however,  should  be  kept  in  a  rack, 
and  composing-rules  in  a  leather  case.  Have  plenty  of 
each,  the  rules  especially. 

Whenever  circumstances  permit,  send  out  only  press- 
proofs.  This  cannot  always  be  done,  frequently  because 
the  margin  of  profit  is  not  sufficient.  If  a  stone-proof  be 
necessary,  use  French  folio  for  a  clear,  clean,  pleasing 
print.  Indicate  by  pencil-marks  the  margin  of  the  finished 
job,  or  better  yet  paste  the  proof  in  position  upon  a  sam- 
ple of  the  stock  seleded.  In  this  way  a  fairly  accurate 
idea  of  the  appearance  of  the  job  may  be  gained  even  by 
one  unaccustomed  to  printing.  Not  only  will  this  attention 
to  detail  please  the  customer,  it  is  likely  also  to  prevent 
changes  in  proof;  and  in  the  experience  of  every  printer 
are  frequent  instances  of  loss  of  time  and  profit  from  this 
cause  alone.  A  substantial  proof-press  will  pay  for  itself 
very  quickly. 


ft 


28 


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CHAPTER  V 


THE   PRESS-ROOM 


WllA  1'  has  been  said  elsewhere  concerning  cleanli- 
ness applies  with  equal  or  greater  force  to  the 
press-room.  Nowhere  else  will  thoroughness  in 
cleaning  and  caring  for  machinery  bring  such  handsome 
returns.  This  is  true  as  regards  ease  and  comfort  of  oper- 
ation, amount  and  quality  of  finished  produd,  and  life 
and  capacity  of  machinery  itself  Yet  this  is  looked  upon 
by  a  great  number  of  printers  as  of  small  moment — some- 
thing scarcely  worth  heeding.   Fatal  mistake! 

Every  printing-house  proprietor  should  lay  sheets  of 
zinc  under  all  machinery,  allowing  them  to  projed:  beyond 
the  machines  to  catch  oil,  drippings,  waste  and  refuse  of 
every  description.  See  that  this  zinc,  as  well  as  the  floor, 
is  swept  at  least  once  daily;  see  that  baskets  provided  for 
spoiled  sheets  and  scraps  of  paper  are  emptied  daily;  see 
that  each  piece  of  machinery  is  given  a  thorough  wiping 
and  all  bright  parts  polished  not  less  than  once  each  week. 
For  this  there  is  no  better  plan  than  to  shut  down  power 
an  hour  or  two  before  quitting  time  each  Saturday,  the 
entire  force  turning  in  to  clean  up.  Not  a  mere  perfundory 
wipe  with  a  bit  of  oily  waste,  but  a  thorough  and  system- 
atic cleaning;  benzine,  oil,  hot  lye  if  necessary,  with  abun- 
dance of  clean  waste  and  "elbow  grease.'*  Occasionally 
zinc  and  imposing-stone  should  be  washed  with  lye;  floors 
scrubbed,  and  oiled;  woodwork  washed;  dust  frequently 


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29 


blown  from  cases  not  within  dustproof  cabinets — news 
cases  and  those  containing  quotations  or  rule  or  spaces. 

While  composition  and  presswork  are  likely  to  be  done 
in  one  room  in  such  a  printshop,  this  room  should  be 
separated  from  the  business  oflice,  and  visitors  to  the  lat- 
ter allowed  to  penetrate  no  further.  A  low  swinging  gate 
of  wood  or  metal  will  answer  the  purpose  admirably  if 
the  door  between  the  rooms  has  been  removed. 

Opinions  differ  so  strongly  as  to  merits  of  the  several 
styles  of  platen  presses — those  of  Golding,  Universal, 
and  Gordon  types — that  each  man  must  choose  for  him- 
self, remembering  always  that  personal  preference  for  any 
one  press  should  not  be  allowed  to  blind  one's  judgment 
to  the  excellences  of  another  machine  if  that  be  better 
fitted  for  the  economical  produdion  of  the  class  of  work 
he  is  to  do.  A  full  fountain,  a  counter,  and  an  automatic 
belt-shipper  and  brake  are  most  essential  parts  of  each 
press,  and  should  be  used  without  ceasing.  Time  taken 
to  wash  the  fountain  for  colored  ink  will  be  more  than 
gained  by  ease  of  running  and  consequent  uniformity  of 
color.  Furthermore,  the  counter  must  be  set  for  each  run 
and  the  exad  number  printed  marked  by  the  feeder  on 
his  time-ticket,  whence  it  is  transferred  to  the  job-ticket. 
Here  is  a  double  safeguard  against  claims  for  shortage : 
The  feeder,  knowing  the  extent  of  the  run,  notifies  the 
foreman  should  the  number  of  sheets  supplied  him  fall 
short,  and  it  is  at  once  made  up;  when  the  customer  asks 
rebate  because  of  lack  of  count,  the  ticket  is  produced  to 
show  that  there  were  say  3013,  instead  of  the  2850  that 
the  customer  said  he  had  received. 

Procure  brushes  soft  but  fairly  strong  for  washing  with 
lye,  and  renew  them  as  often  as  the  bristles  become  much 


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worn.  Ours  are  made  to  order  at  a  local  fadory,  and  we 
find  that  while  they  are  somewhat  expensive  they  wear 
exceedingly  well  and  do  not  injure  the  type.  Buy  or  build 
a  cabinet  for  ink  and  rollers.  On  the  upper  shelves  keep 
the  less-used  colors,  below  those  the  standard  reds  and 
greens  and  blues  and  browns,  and  beneath  these  in  turn 
the  cans  of  varied  blacks.  Insist  that  cans  be  covered  when 
not  in  adual  use;  that  they  be  kept  in  the  closet  when  not 
required  for  the  presses;  that  each  night  every  can  must 
be  closed  and  returned  to  its  proper  place.  In  the  lower 
sedion  of  the  cabinet  are  brackets  for  extra  sets  of  rollers, 
of  which  there  should  be  one  or  two  always.  Have  full 
supply  of  chases,  of  quoins,  of  gauge-pins,  of  tympan 
sheets  cut  to  proper  size.  Follow  the  advice  of  Mr.  F.  W. 
Thomas  of  Toledo  and  cease  to  buy  a  little  ink  from  each 
salesman  who  comes,  but  decide  upon  one  of  the  dozen 
and  more  prominent  and  reliable  inkmakers  and  give  him 
all  your  orders.  Acquaint  him  with  the  conditions  of  your 
press-room  and  the  nature  of  your  trade,  and  he  will  give 
you  inks  suited  to  your  work  and  always  uniform.  From 
ten  to  thirty  per  cent,  of  the  costlier  ink  is  wasted  in  a 
small  office.  A  large  proportion  of  this  loss  may  be  pre- 
vented if  colored  inks  and  high-priced  blacks  are  bought 
in  pound  tins,  standard  blacks  in  five-pound  tins. 

In  the  press-room  also  is  likely  to  be  found  the  paper- 
cutter.  This  should  be  so  placed  that  it  will  be  convenient 
to  presses  and  stock,  with  low,  strong  tables  to  hold  full 
sheets  and  cut,  at  the  right  and  in  the  rear  of  the  cutter. 
Beneath  the  rear  table  should  be  a  box  with  a  projeding 
inclined  front  to  catch  easilv  the  trim  and  waste  stock, 
and  this  paper  should  be  disposed  of  every  week  or  so  — 
sold,  or  given  away  if  necessary.   See  that  the  cutter-knife 


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3" 


is  ground  once  in  three  or  four  weeks,  and  include  cutter 
and  all  small  machines  in  the  weekly  clean-up.  Place  bas- 
kets for  spoiled  sheets  near  the  presses;  they  will  be  used. 
Encourage  pressmen  and  feeders  to  attain  and  maintain 
accuracy  in  feeding  at  fairly  high  speed;  but  lay  much 
stress  on  the  fallacy  of  speeding  a  press  at  2000  an  hour 
and  then  tripping  impression  almost  constantly.  Watch 
an  average  feeder  on  an  average  job.  He  will  miss  from 
fifteen  to  thirty  impressions  in  each  hundred — say  a  fair 
average  is  twenty.  That  will  net  only  1600  impressions 
an  hour,  and  go  far  to  explain  why  forty  minutes  are  taken 
for  feeding  1000  envelopes  on  a  press  running  2250  an 
hour.  Better  results  with  less  wear  and  tear  are  obtained 
when  the  press  is  run  more  slowly  and  pradically  every 
impression  is  counted — in  this  instance  perhaps  1750.  An 
ideal  speed  is  one  that  will  produce  the  greatest  amount 
of  perfed:  sheets  with  least  use  of  throw-off  in  a  given 
number  of  impressions. 


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CHAPTER  VI 


LIGHT,   POWER  AND  HEAT 


IT  being  scarcely  possible  to  obtain  too  much  light  in 
a  printshop,  an  abundance  of  windows  is  of  prime 
importance  in  both  composing-room  and  press-room. 
Especially  true  is  this  if  both  departments  are  within  one 
four-walls.  It  is  an  axiom  older  than  Gutenberg — old  as 
the  beginnings  of  calligraphy  itself — that  writer  or  printer 
should  so  place  himself  and  his  tools  that  light  from  the 
window  will  fall  athwart  his  left  shoulder  upon  the  paper. 
Not  always  is  this  possible;  but  it  is  very  desirable  that 
compositors  should  be  so  situated,  and  it  is  almost  imper- 
ative that  the  straight-matter  men  be  so  placed;  for  job- 
bing the  necessity  is  not  so  great.  Almost  equally  strong 
is  the  reason  for  so  setting  a  press  that  the  feeder's  left 
side  is  toward  the  light,  his  view  of  the  platen  and  guides 
unobstruded  by  the  shadow  of  his  right  hand  or  the  sheet 
being  fed.  To  obtain  all  these  is  not  always  easy,  but 
by  careful  study  a  way  can  generally  be  found  that  leads 
smoothly  over  difficulties  which  once  seemed  impassable. 
Herewith  is  a  diagram  showing  the  arrangement  of  rooms 
in  our  office,  recently  equipped  with  new  material  and  lo- 
cated in  a  building  not  especially  adapted  for  the  purpose. 
It  will  be  seen  that  pradically  all  the  workmen  so  stand 
that  at  ordinary  work  they  obtain  light  at  the  desired  angle, 
not  only  on  cases  and  presses  but  also  on  the  stone,  where 
the  lock-up  faces  the  window,  and  the  cutter,  where  the 


M 


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01 

CO 


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tS^"^ 


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33 


I 


operator  receives  light  from  transoms  as  well  as  from  the 
windows  behind  him.   In  this  instance  the  windows  are 
broad  and  high,  but  not  more  so  than  are  usual  in  build- 
ings ereded  for  commercial  uses,  as  this  was.  Roller  shades 
are  hung  at  each  to  soften  the  fierceness  of  the  afternoon 
sun,  and  canvas  awnings  aid  in  creating  artificial  coolness. 
The  added  comfort  of  employees  and  increased  efficiency 
thus  obtained  will  pay  dired  and  handsome  dividends  on 
the  slight  cost  of  these  improvements,  which  still  are  sadly 
lacking  in  too  many  shops.   It  goes  without  saying  that 
the  business  office  is  similarly  proteded.   Even  though  it 
may  be  found  necessary  to  give  a  small  additional  monthly 
rental  to  obtain  well-lighted  rooms,  it  invariably  pays  to 
do  so, — not  only  in  increased  ease  and  rapidity  with  which 
men  work,  but  as  well  in  saving  in  use  of  artificial  lights. 
Use  none  but  eledric  lights  if  it  be  possible  to  obtain 
the   service.    Eledricity  is  nominally  but  slightly  more 
costly  than  gas,  and  adually  cheaper  when  consideration 
is  given  its  brightness,  its  cleanliness,  its  readiness,  its 
safety.   It  is  by  far  the  most  satisfactory  of  all  illumlnants. 
But  do  not  attempt  to  economize  by  using  fewer  lights 
than  occasion  demands.   In  the  business  office,  have  one 
at  the  entrance  over  the  counter  described  in  Chapter  III ; 
one  over  the  desk;  one  over  the  long  table.   Green  globe- 
shades  add  greatly  to  the  comfort  of  all  who  read  or  write 
beneath  these  lamps.   For  the  work-room,  see  that  one 
bulb  is  suspended  over  each  pair  of  cases;  over  the  stone; 
over  each  press;  over  the  cutter;  over  the  stitcher.  That 
should  be  sufficient  for  a  room  planned  like  the  diagram, 
and  it  will  frequently  happen  that  not  more  than  two-thirds 
of  these  are  burning,  even  when  all  the  men  are  busy.  A 
long  cord  should  be  attached  to  each  globe. 


i    ' 


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If  for  any  reason  electricity  cannot  be  obtained,  use  gas. 
Have  plenty  of  burners — at  least  as  many  burners  are 
needed  as  eledric  bulbs — and  enclose  each  jet  with  a  globe 
or  use  a  Welsbach  burner.  The  flame  will  be  steadier  and 
less  trying  to  the  eyes. 

All  that  has  been  said  in  favor  of  eledricity  as  illumi- 
nant  is  doubly  true  as  to  its  use  for  power.   None  other  is 
so  ready,  so  clean,  so  cheap,  so  safe,  so  universally  satis- 
factory.  It  is  instantly  usable  at  any  hour  of  day  or  night, 
and  with  the  measured  service  which  is  the  only  one  given 
by  most  companies  now,  there  is  no  charge  for  power  save 
when  machinery  is  running.    Individual  motors  are  excel- 
lent for  large  presses— cylinders  should  always  be  driven 
thus;  and  a  half-medium   may  sometimes  be  run  more 
advantageously  by  its  own  motor.  A  shop  so  small  as  to 
afford  but  one  press  should  invariably  obtain  its  power  in 
that  way.   But  smaller  presses,  especially  where  not  more 
than  three  are  run,  may  be  more  economically  operated 
by  shafting  and  a  central  motor,  care  being  taken  to  make 
shafts  and  belts  as  direcft  and  as  few  in  number  as  possible. 
Should  a  plant  be  located  where  eledric  power  could  not 
be  obtained,  a  fairly  acceptable  substitute  is  a  water  motor, 
and  with  adequate  pressure  a  small  motor  will  answer  all 
requirements. 

Another  detail  to  which  little  attention  is  given  is  that 
of  heat.  Too  often  does  it  happen  that  when  a  printshop 
is  opened  at  seven  or  eight  o'clock  the  temperature  of  the 
work-rooms  is  barely  above  the  freezing-point,  and  both 
machinery  and  rollers  literally  as  cold  as  ice.  Even  though 
a  rousing  fire  be  built  at  once,  much  time  must  elapse 
before  the  atmosphere  becomes  so  warmed  that  men  and 
machines  can  do  their  work  rightly;  and  frequently  the 


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35 


rollers  will  become  so  chilled  that  it  is  impossible  to  make 
them  take  ink  properly  until  nearly  noon.  Here  are  hours 
and  hours  for  which  the  proprietor  pays  wages  and  current 
expenses,  but  from  which  no  revenue  is  had.  What  won- 
der that  it  is  indeed  "the  winter  of  our  discontent"  to  so 
many  printers ! 

Now,  if  rental  paid  for  rooms  is  to  include  heat,  insist 
that  the  janitor  keep  sufficient  steam  pressure  to  maintain 
fair  warmth  in  the  rooms  all  night,  and  that  full  pressure 
be  given  at  least  an  hour  before  time  for  beginning  work, 
so  that  all  things  may  be  ready  for  use  as  soon  as  the  men 
come  in.  If  heat  must  be  furnished  by  the  office  itself, 
see  that  the  fires  are  kept  up.  It  is  well  to  have  one  of 
the  boys  come  in  to  look  at  the  fire  late  in  the  evening, 
and  again  an  hour  or  so  before  the  office  opens  in  the 
morning.  He  should  of  course  be  paid  for  this  additional 
labor,  which  will  mean  constant  profits  on  the  time  of  all 
the  other  workmen  and  thereby  become  an  exceedingly 
satisfactory  part  of  the  wage  account. 


' 


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CHAPTER  VII 

STOCK-ROOM  AND  BINDERY 

TF^IS  does  not  mean  tiiut  an  additional  room  must 
be  obtained  for  storage  of  stock  (although  that  is 
an  excellent  plan  if  at  all  feasible),  nor  that  a  com- 
plete bindery  equipment  need  be  installed.  Rather,  that 
the  disposition  of  stock  is  a  matter  of  sufficient  importance 
to  deserve  a  chapter,  and  that  many  of  the  details  of  bind- 
ing can  be  done  in  the  shop  at  a  cost  less  than  the  binder 
would  charge,  to  say  nothing  of  the  saving  of  time  and 
the  certainty  that  work  done  under  the  eye  of  the  pro- 
prietor by  his  own  workmen  will  be  done  corredly. 

The  plant  whose  work-rooms  have  been  shown  in  the 
diagram  utilizes  part  of  its  business  office  for  storing  stock, 
using  one  of  the  newest  stationery  closets.  This  is  hand- 
somely finished  in  stained  wood,  and  is  built  in  tiers,  the 
lower  one  having  two  sec^tions  of  sliding  shelves,  each 
shelf  cap:>able  of  holding  a  ream  of  28  x  42  book  paper, 
or  a  package  of  cardboard  and  a  ream  of  folio.  The  upper 
part  has  stationary  shelves  for  ruled  goods,  cut  cards,  en- 
velopes, and  boxed  goods  in  general.  Sliding  doors  are 
provided  for  each  tier,  the  upper  ones  of  glass.  Writings, 
special  covers,  bonds,  cardboard  and  the  better  grades  of 
book  fill  the  lower  sedion.  Manillas,  tag,  print,  cheap 
writings,  book  and  covers,  may  be  piled  on  shelves  built 
alongside  the  cabinet,  with  curtained  front  to  keep  out 
dust.   In  this  office  they  are  kept  in  a  room  just  of^'  from 


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37 


the  press-room,  of  which  the  door  only  is  shown  on  the 
diagram.  Each  quality  of  stock  is  by  itself,  shelves  marked 
with  name,  dimensions  and  weight  to  prevent  error  when 
piling  or  selecting  stock.  If  there  be  not  sufficient  room 
here  for  all  the  stock,  such  coarser  grades  as  manilla  and 
print,  or  possibly  the  plated  papers,  may  be  kept  on  low 
shelves  in  the  press-room,  under  one  of  the  tables  beside 
the  cutter.  But  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  carry  so  great  a 
variety  of  stock  as  to  require  much  space  in  addition  to  a 
cabinet.  Good  judgment  in  the  choice  of  standard  lines 
of  cards  and  papers  will  reduce  very  materially  the  num- 
ber of  different  grades,  and  while  the  stock  is  more  easily 
kept  up  the  produd  of  the  office  will  be  more  uniform 
and  more  excellent. 

There  should  be  one  standard  grade  of  wove  writing, 
both  fiat  in  the  common  weights  and  sizes,  and  ruled,  with 
envelopes;  a  standard  medium-priced  bond  and  a  high- 
grade  bond  in  white  and  colors,  with  envelopes;  a  good 
grade  of  cream  laid  folio  is  also  advisable.  These  will  meet 
every  requirement  of  almost  all  stationery  jobs,  and  a  great 
proportion  of  general  work.  White  and  colored  bristol, 
about  100-pound,  and  the  best  quality  of  160-pound 
white,  together  with  four-ply  railroad  in  colors,  should  be 
carried,  as  well  as  coated  blank  for  window-cards.  In  book 
papers,  machine-finish,  super-calendered,  and  coated  will 
be  necessary,  also  antique  laid  for  a  certain  class  of  work; 
but  not  more  than  one  or  at  most  two  weights  and  one 
size  of  each  finish.  The  stock  of  manilla  and  tag  and  of 
white  and  colored  print  and  plated  papers  must  depend 
upon  the  requirements  of  each  plant;  small  quantities  of 
each  will  usually  suffice.  If  any  customers  have  work  in 
which  large  amounts  of  special  stock  are  used,  an  effort 


38 


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should  be  made  to  keep  that  always  on  hand,  to  insure 
compliance  with  the  request  for  immediate  shipment  that 
often  accompanies  such  an  order. 

White  and  colored  cards  cut  to  the  two  or  three  sizes 
most  in  demand  should  be  kept.  Supply  houses  can  cut 
them  more  cheaply  than  individuals  can,  and  not  only  are 
they  of  standard  size,  thus  simplifying  the  matter  of  com- 
position, but  they  are  always  ready.  They  may  be  bought 
boxed  for  a  few  cents  additional  each  thousand,  and  the 
customer  will  readily  pay  a  slight  increase  in  price  to  get 
them  thus,  or  the  boxes  may  be  given  with  the  printed 
cards  as  an  inducement. 

Care  should  be  taken  that  stock  does  not  become  de- 
pleted, and  to  this  end  a  memorandum  should  be  made 
as  soon  as  the  supply  of  any  grade  is  nearly  exhausted. 
As  each  job  is  entered,  the  stock  should  be  looked  up.  If 
the  amount  on  hand  should  prove  insufficient,  a  memo- 
randum is  entered  in  the  stock-book  and  the  order  writ- 
ten in  time  to  go  forward  on  the  evening  mail.  The  book 
may  be  small,  indexed,  on  whose  ruled  pages  is  entered 
full  information  regarding  all  stock  regularly  carried  or 
specially  procured,  including  size,  weight,  color,  price,  and 
selling  houses.  Notes  of  goods  needed  are  made  on  leaves 
attached  to  the  cover  by  a  clip  and  removed  when  the 
order  has  been  sent. 

Within  the  province  of  the  bindery  come  such  details 
as  padding,  punching,  perforating,  and  wire-stitching.  Pad- 
ding is  now  invariably  done  at  the  printery,  and  by  pur- 
chase of  a  press-punch,  of  which  there  are  several  on  the 
market,  order-sheets,  cards,  and  such  work  may  be  easily 
punched  while  being  printed,  at  a  merely  nominal  cost. 
Even  if  a  separate  run  be  necessary  for  part  of  the  punch- 


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39 


ing,  it  can  still  be  done  here  cheaper  and  better  than  at 
a  bindery.  A  perforator  need  not  be  bought  unless  much 
of  this  work  is  to  be  had;  but  a  comparatively  small  num- 
ber of  orders  for  perforations  will  repay  cost  of  machine. 
As  for  a  stitcher,  every  office  doing  even  a  small  amount 
of  booklet  or  pamphlet  printing  should  be  equipped  with 
an  up-to-date  wire  machine.  This  also  should  be  located 
in  plenty  of  light  and  have  ample  table  facilities  for  easy 
and  expeditious  handling  of  books  loose  and  bound.  In 
our  office  a  moulding  runs  around  the  sides  of  the  press- 
room at  a  height  of  four  feet.  Upon  this  is  fastened  a 
shelf  about  a  foot  wide,  strongly  braced,  and  there  pad- 
ding is  done. 

Here  let  us  say  that  it  should  be  the  duty  of  the  boy 
to  have  in  readiness  a  plentiful  supply  of  proof-paper 
(French  folio  for  display  and  print  for  full  galleys)  and 
tympan  sheets,  cut  to  requisite  sizes  and  kept  convenient 
to  both  provers  and  pressmen. 


40 


STARTING  A  PRINTING-OFFICE 


CHAPTER  VIII 


THE  BOOK  OF  SAMPLES 


WHEN  a  prospedive  buyer  of  printing  enters  the 
office,  his  first  request  is  usually  for  samples  of 
a  particular  class  of  goods.  And  right  here  are 
beginnings  of  trouble  for  the  printer.  Many  offices,  per- 
haps most  of  the  smaller  ones,  make  no  pretense  of  keep- 
ing a  book  of  samples;  and  of  those  who  do,  it  is  rarer 
still  to  find  one  properly  made  or  renewed.  Generally  the 
book  falls  so  far  short  of  what  it  ought  tu  be  as  a  setting- 
forth  of  the  possibilities  of  the  plant — it  is  so  patently  the 
produd  of  haste  and  heedlessness  —  that  at  the  very  outset 
a  most  unfavorable  impression  is  gained  by  the  possible 
purchaser.  The  common  method  of  using  a  book  in  which 
are  pasted  a  heterogeneous  assortment  of  what  the  printer 
deems  his  best  productions — his  pieces  de  resistance — is 
bad;  so  bad  as  often  to  destroy  prospeds  of  a  sale  either 
present  or  future. 

It  is  most  unwise  to  seled  for  samples  only  the  best 
work  produced,  especially  if  that  work  be  out  of  the  ordi- 
nary or  that  which  requires  particular  skill  on  the  part  of 
compositor  or  pressman.  Should  a  sample  prove  pleasing 
to  the  buyer,  he  is  quite  likely  to  become  imbued  with 
the  idea  that  this  alone  is  what  he  wants.  Almost  invari- 
ably he  loses  sight  of  the  fad  that  his  particular  piece  of 
copy  is  unsuited  to  the  design  which  has  struck  his  fancy 
and  its  appearance  in  type  will  be  quite  different  from  that 


STARTING  A  PRINTING-OFFICE 


41 


which  first  caught  his  eye.  It  is  therefore  advisable  to  seled 
for  the  sample-book  only  those  specimens  which  are  good 
work  capable  of  fitting  ordinary  demands, —  those  jobs 
which  require  but  ordinary  skill  and  time  to  produce  and 
which  are  of  a  style  most  likely  to  become  standard  or 
remain  in  vogue.  Avoid  "fads"  or  too  ornate  display. 

Samples  should  be  classified  and  placed  in  different 
books  or  in  different  sedions  of  the  same  book.  The  best 
means  of  displaying  samples  is  to  put  them  in  a  good, 
strongly-bound  scrap-book,  not  over  8x14  inches  in  size 
and  containing  less  than  two  hundred  pages.  Bill-heads, 
letter-heads,  note-heads,  envelopes  and  other  stationery 
of  this  class  should  be  together.  Catalogues,  booklets, 
folders,  and  work  of  that  nature  should  be  collated;  like- 
wise all  other  matter  of  the  same  or  related  classes. 

Take  such  samples  of  differing  sizes  and  styles  as  have 
been  selected  from  the  bill-heads,  for  instance;  arrange 
them  neatly  and  paste  them  in  by  means  of  hinges.  These 
hinges  are  favorites  with  postage-stamp  colledors  because 
they  allow  removal  of  stamps  from  album  without  injur- 
ing either.  They  may  be  made  with  bits  of  gummed  paper 
an  inch  long  and  half  an  inch  wide,  doubled  in  the  center, 
gum  side  out.  One  part  sticks  to  the  book,  the  other  to 
the  sample.  Whenever  samples  become  torn  or  soiled,  or 
it  is  desired  to  change  the  style,  fresh  sheets  may  be  sub- 
stituted with  utmost  ease  and  the  books  kept  clean  and 
in  touch  with  changing  fashion. 

After  the  book  has  been  arranged,  a  schedule  of  prices 
should  be  formulated  and  kept  at  hand  for  instant  refer- 
ence. The  importance  of  such  a  price-list  cannot  be  over- 
estimated— seldom  is  it  realized.  When  a  customer  has 
to  wait  for  the  printer  to  "figger  up,"  he  is  very  apt  to 


42 


STARTING  A  PRINTING-OFFICE 


conclude  that  it  is  his  apparent  ability  or  willingness  to 
pay,  rather  than  the  worth  or  probable  cost  of  the  print- 
ing, that  is  being  estimated,  so  that  the  price  named  shall 
be  commensurate  with  his  purse.  Hesitancy  or  a  seem- 
ing lack  of  confidence  in  his  own  price  on  the  part  of  the 
printer  begets  adlual  loss  of  confidence  on  the  part  of  the 
customer.  He  feels  that  the  printing  business  is  at  best 
nothing  but  a  matter  of  guesswork,  and  proceeds  to  beat 
down  the  price,  or,  what  is  worse,  decides  to  get  estimates 
from  every  shop  in  town  before  placing  his  order. 

The  tabulated  price-list  evolved  by  Mr.  David  Ramaley 
of  St.  Paul,  Minn.,  has  been  of  invaluable  assistance  to 
us  in  connexion  with  the  sample-book.  The  figures  are 
the  result  of  years  of  experience  and  can  be  relied  upon 
for  accuracy.  Prices  are  given  on  stock  of  varying  grades 
in  quantities  of  roo,  250,  500,  1000,  and  an  additional 
rate  by  the  100  in  lots  of  more  than  1000.  This  list  was 
embodied  in  the  American  Type  Founders  Company's 
catalogue  of  1897,  but  Mr.  Ramaley  has  since  issued  a 
revised  edition  in  which  the  figures  are  based  upon  a  nine- 
hour  work-day.  The  prices  in  this  Ramaley  scale  should 
not  be  followed  blindly.  Each  printer  can  readily  adapt  it 
to  his  own  needs — but  he  cannot  lower  it  and  continue 
to  tlo  a  profitable  business.  The  scale  will  prove  a  valuable 
guide  in  case  of  doubt  as  to  the  worth  of  a  piece  of  work 
when  produced  under  the  conditions  set  forth  in  another 
part  of  this  book. 


STARTING  A  PRINTING-OFFICE 


43 


CHAPTER  IX 


ENTERING  THE  ORDER 


SUPPOSE  an  order  has  been  received  from  Hayes 
&  Company  for  1000  lo-pound  linen  letter-heads, 
padded,  on  stock  costing  14  cents  a  pound,  to  be 
delivered  in  three  days.  The  first  step  is  to  enter  the  order 
on  the  job-ticket  (Fig.  i).  This  is  a  form  which  contains 
all  items  likely  to  enter  into  the  cost  of  the  work,  with 
proper  blanks.  In  the  first  column  is  placed  net  cost  of 
stock,  and  all  items  other  than  those  for  labor.  The  sec- 
ond column  is  for  these  same  items  with  addition  of  the 
percentage  for  handling.  The  third  column  contains  the 
figures  for  the  labor  adually  expended  upon  the  work. 
After  the  job-ticket  has  been  made  out  it  is  placed  in  an 
ordinary  letter-file,  alphabetically  arranged,  where  it  re- 
mains until  the  job  is  completed. 

A  job-envelope  (Fig.  2)  is  next  filled  out.  This  opens 
on  the  end,  is  9  x  12  inches  in  size,  made  of  50-pound 
manilla.  On  it  is  a  printed  blank  for  such  data  and  instruc- 
tions as  may  be  necessary  for  the  guidance  of  those  into 
whose  hands  it  comes  during  the  process  of  the  work. 
The  lower  half  is  left  blank  for  diagrams  or  instructions 
not  appearing  elsewhere.  Copy  and  all  loose  matter  accom- 
panying, together  with  proofs,  revises,  and  all  else  bearing 
upon  the  work,  must  be  kept  in  the  envelope.  This  is 
then  put  into  the  first  compartment  of  the  job-envelope 
boxes.  There  are  two  of  these  boxes,  made  of  %-inch  ash 


44 


STARTING  A  PRINTING-OFFICE 


or  pine,  divided  in  the  center  by  a  partition  of  the  same 
thickness,  all  neatly  varnished.  Inside  measurements  of 
the  boxes  are  iS^^  inches  long,  g}^  inches  wide,  and  y% 
inches  deep  (Fig.  3). 


f.ut_iA* 


r- 


^ 


lhi(e_ 


_^^.._^ 


.1902 


Jot) 


/iO-5_ 


77^' 


A^-  ^^o(^ 


8t(H-k V r/) 


Ink 

Klwtrus - 

i^ittins /P.  Xi^'  *i   .f.-T.. 


.hiu  «.. 


('^jnipoMition.. 


."^.  P. . .  Slir**' . .?  P. .  ^'*:*^^'?^^. . 


Correction*.... 

AltJTrttionH.... 
I'rouf-tftkiilg. 
Prvm  Proof... 
M<iki>-up 


l,.xk-iii) .1 "      

M>.k<vrei«i1y..l S??      "     -f^ 

^o     ..     -^O^S/y^ff^^^,, 


/W 


(iiithorinp.... 

I'uJdiiig 

Tiiniiiiint;.... 
.\uiiiljcriuj{.. 

Hiiiihii)r 

Itulint;    

tVrft)niting. 

i^lIH;lling 

Wnvppinn... 
IMivoring...., 

(Mortage , 

Sundrie*. 


.y*r  "     ,.((».»,..<^MrtOr.. 


f 


/^ 


v^ 


Job  Finifihpd 

File  No...:-4!Py 


^^,.^. 


«<a. 


PrireOu^tivd 


4^2^- 


FIG.     I THE   JOB-TICKET 


STARTING  A  PRINTING-OFFICE 


45 


Each  compartment  is  divided  alphabetically  by  means 
of  heavy  strawboard  cards  9x12^  inches.  Upon  these 

rat   U'T^^^fA^     W^      , ^ 

;<*  __zzr ." 

/g-ro        /o^.      a^uLcvu    ai^g^^w.  w^..^ 

Prom  WantM^       ^^f    ^ '•"  Wa"*^— -^^^    0  

Stock LJ..xXl......^..JkSl j4Mt^dOijJ^Mte=.._.-S^:^£jf^3L-jC0t i*«*      /^X  .   // 

tak -^fti.4^.iSgfaft<S^ ji J.  Voa.  BaA        /^g^^yvCt 


FIG.    2 THE  JOB-ENVELOPE 


is  pasted  (one  on  each  card)  a  set  of  indexes  similar  to 
those  of  a  ledger.  Each  section  should  have  a  complete  set. 
The  simplest  way  of  making  them  is  to  cut  from  the  top 
of  each  card  a  strip  half  an  inch  wide,  its  length  varying 
to  accord  with  the  relative  position  of  the  letter  for  which 


FIG.    3 THE  JOB-ENVELOPE  BOX 


I 


46 


STARTING  A  PRINTING-OFFICE 


STARTING  A   PRINTING-OFFICE 


47 


the  card  is  intended.  Fig.  4  shows  these  indexes  for  one 
compartment  as  they  lie  ready  to  be  placed  upright  in  the 
box.    Fig.  5  shows  a  single  card  with  index  in  position. 


1" 


N^ 


J. 


A  B   C    D  EF         H 

IJ  M   H    NJ 

^ 


e'  — 


-1 


FIG.    4 THE    BOX-INDEXES FIG.    5 


The  job-envelope,  properly  filled  out  and  enclosing 
copy,  is  placed  in  the  first  compartment, —  in  this  instance 
under  the  letter  "H."  These  job-boxes  are  kept  in  the 
office,  convenient  to  the  composing-room;  ours  on  the 
safis,  close  to  the  door.  Daily,  at  morning  and  at  noon, 
the  foreman  glances  through  the  cards  in  this  compart- 
ment, makes  note  of  such  jobs  as  require  attention,  and 
plans  his  work  and  his  workmen  in  accordance  therewith. 
Should  there  be  received  an  order  upon  which  work  must 
be  begun  immediately,  the  matter  would  be  brought  to 
him  without  delay. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  JOB  IN  PROCESS 

WE  will  continue  with  the  manufadure  of  Hayes 
&  Company's  letter-heads.   The  compositor  re- 
ceives from  the  foreman  the  envelope  containing 
copy,  together  with  verbal  instructions  as  to  style,  size  of 
type,  and  other  details,  unless  these  have  been  noted  on 
the  envelope,  as  should  invariably  be  done.   Having  fol- 
lowed instructions,  compositor  pulls  proofs  for  the  office, 
and  places  them  in  the  envelope.    After  the  office  O.K. 
has  been  affixed,  the  proof  goes  to  Hayes  &  Company 
and  envelope  is  properly  filed  in  the  second  compartment 
of  the  job-box — this  section  being  intended  for  such  work 
as  is  awaiting  the  return  of  proofs.   Hayes  &  Company 
retain  the  proof  until  the  following  day;  correc5tions  being 
made,  the  envelope  goes  to  the  third  compartment,  and 
thence  in  due  time  to  the  press-room.  Here  instrucflions 
are  noted  concerning  stock,  ink,  binding,  and  all  details, 
and  the  number  of  full  sheets  cut  is  written.   When  the 
job  is  finished,  three  perfecft  samples  are  put  in  the  envel- 
ope and  it  is  placed  in  the  fourth  or  "completed**  com- 
partment of  the  box,  there  to  rest  until  it  is  taken  by  the 
bookkeeper.    The  entire  process,  as  well  as  the  procedure 
of  ascertaining  and  computing  labor  spent  by  each  man  on 
each  job,  is  simplicity  itself   Far  less  time  is  required  than 
for  any  other  system  whose  results  are  even  approximately 
so  satisfac^tory. 


48 


STARTING  A  PRINTING-OFFICE 


STARTING  A  PRINTING-OFFICE 


49 


♦i 


Each  workman  has  a  time-ticket  (Fig.  6)  divided  into 
ten-minute  periods,  thus  allowing  space  for  record  of  every 
minute  expended  on  a  piece  of  work  during  the  day.  By 
it  both  time  of  starting  and  time  of  finishing,  on  any  job, 


Name 


Date  ^^"/ 


190l^ 


1(1 


l^H^ 


u>ve«.^i^ 


9 

JO 

at) 
m 

40 


10 


II 


■wti^  j^^i:i<£«^ 


441 


— (     ■ 


;?^ 


,7f 


%d^.Xi^GJ- 


4 
lo 
*) 

40 


1  'ea4.£IIA*>ww. 


10 

40 
5(1 


e 

10 
20 
30 
40 
|»> 


-^ 


5*0 


:2o 

lo 


l^ 


FIG,    6 THE  TIME-TICKET 


can  be  seen  at  a  glance.  One  ticket  suffices  each  man  for 
a  day,  and  at  night  it  is  handed  in  at  the  office.  The  book- 
keeper takes  from  these  tickets  the  time  expended  on  the 
several  jobs  and  writes  it  on  the  job-ticket  under  the  cor- 
responding operation  thereon  listed.  It  is  :in  easy  matter 
to  get  the  total  time  spent  on  each  successive  stage  of  the 
work,  and  here  is  also  shown  the  exa(!;t  proportion  of 
time  that  is  produc^tive;  that  is  to  say,  what  portion  of  it 
is  really  charged  to  work  in  process  and  what  to  lost  or 


unprodudive  time.  As  the  book-keeper  charges  each  item 
he  checks  it  to  make  sure  that  nothing  is  omitted.  (For 
convenience,  we  show  only  one  time-ticket  of  the  several 
on  which  charges  to  Hayes  &  Company  appear.  The  dif- 
ferent operations  on  the  job  used  as  an  illustration  will  be 
found  on  different  tickets.) 

Upon  the  completion  of  a  job  and  the  entry  upon  the 
job-ticket  of  all  items  of  labor  at  the  hour-rate  decided 
upon  (see  chapter  on  Determining  Cost),  the  columns  of 
the  ticket  are  footed.  The  second  column  will  show  total 
charges  for  stock  and  outside  work,  the  third  column  total 
charge  for  labor.  A  study  of  the  job-ticket  made  out  for 
Hayes  &  Company  (Fig.  i)  will  show  how  these  items 
are  entered.  Tickets  should  be  written  daily  and  charged 
on  the  journal  at  least  once  a  week;  the  task  cannot  then 
become  irksome  or  outrun  ability  to  handle  it  readily. 

Samples  of  tickets  and  blanks  used  in  this  office  will  be 
sent  gladly,  without  charge,  to  any  who  may  be  interested 
in  the  system  herein  outlined. 


1  -, 


-  !. 


50 


STARTING  A  PRINTING-OFFICE 


CHAPTER  XI 


DETERMINING  COST 


THIS  eternal  question  of  "cost"  is  the  bane  of  the 
printer's  waking  and  sleeping  hours.  Hundreds 
upon  hundreds  of  jxiges  have  of  late  been  written 
concerning  the  matter;  scores  of  speeches  and  papers  pre- 
pared; countless  controversies  carried  on  in  trade  papers; 
and  the  end  is  not  yet.  The  subjed  is  complex,  fascinat- 
ing, bewildering; — we  can  but  approach  it  fearsomely. 

We  do  not  attempt  to  pass  upon  the  merits  of  the 
question  further  than  to  say  that  all  we  have  ever  read  as 
to  printing-office  costs  and  methods  of  ascertaining  them 
has  had  to  do  with  houses  of  the  larger  class,  completely 
ignoring  that  great  army  of  concerns  doing  a  business  of 
I5000  to  $25,000  a  year.  It  is  for  this  latter  class — this 
class  to  which  our  plant  belongs,  whose  history  we  have 
herein  set  forth  —  that  this  book,  and  this  chapter,  will  be 
found  particularly  well  adapted.  Yet  the  system  is  not  con- 
fined to  these  plants,  for  it  is  capable  of  indefinite  exten- 
sion, even  though  a  $100,000  business  has  many  items 
of  expense  entirely  unknown   to  a  $10,000  output. 

At  the  very  beginning,  it  must  be  thoroughly  impressed 
upon  one's  mind  that  the  printer  in  business  for  himself 
should  at  the  least  get  enough  out  of  it  to  pay  him  a  reas- 
onable salary  for  services  rendered,  ^ve  per  cent,  on  cap- 
ital invested,  not  less  than  ten  per  cent,  for  wear  and  tear 
and  depreciation  on  material  comprising  the  plant,  and — 


STARTING  A  PRINTING-OFFICE 


51 


most  important  of  all — fifteen  per  cent,  for  profit  on  the 
amount  of  business  done.  It  is  just  here  that  so  many 
printers,  old  and  young,  make  the  mistake  of  their  lives. 
Such  a  printer  seems  to  think  that  if  he  gets  a  few  dollars 
more  each  week  out  of  the  business  than  he  received  as 
journeyman  or  foreman,  he  is  "making  money."  Beware! 
There  is  a  day  of  reckoning.  Let  him  study  the  methods 
of  a  successful  railroad  or  a  great  manufadluring  corpora- 
tion. Let  it  be  known  that  it  is  only  after  deduction  of 
expenses  of  every  nature,  including  a  heavy  percentage  for 
depreciation  of  plant  and  a  sinking  fund  to  renew  equip- 
ment, that  dividends  are  declared. 

Let  us  suppose  the  printer  has  been  established  for  one 
year,  and  has  acquired  a  plant  valued  at  $3200;  a  volume 
of  business  suflicient  to  warrant  the  employment  of  a  fore- 
man at  $18  a  week,  a  compositor  at  $15,  an  apprentice  at 
$6,  a  pressman  at  $15,  and  two  feeders  at  $9  and  $6  re- 
spectively. The  foreman  reads  proof  subjed  to  final  revis- 
ion in  the  office,  makes  up  forms,  lays  out  and  supervises 
work;  the  pressman  cuts  stock  and  makes  jobs  ready  for 
the  feeders.  The  proprietor  gives  his  entire  time  to  the 
management  of  the  concern,  and  for  this  he  allows  himself 
a  salary  of  $1500.  He  is  his  own  bookkeeper;  he  attends 
to  all  details  of  clerical  work,  buying,  selling,  soliciting; 
his  only  assistant  the  office-boy. 

He  divides  his  plant  into  three  departments, — office, 
composing-room,  press-room.  Outside  of  the  office,  each 
department  bears  that  proportion  of  the  general  expense 
at  which  the  inventory  shows  it  to  be  valued.  The  office 
furniture  and  fixtures  are  appraised  at  $200,  hence  the 
value  of  the  composing-room  and  press-room  together  is 
$3000.  The  composing-room  inventories  $1800  and  the 


I'.' 


4 


52 


STARTING  A   PRINTING-OFFICE 


press-room  Si 200;  they  should  therefore  bear  three-fifths 
and  two-fifths  of  the  office  expense,  respectively. 

The  following  tables  are  compiled  from  the  books  of  a 
plant  valued  at  $3200  and  doing  an  annual  business  of 
from  $8000  to  $10,000.  To  do  so  large  an  amount  of 
business  in  an  office  equipped  with  no  more  than  two  job 
presses  may  seem  doubtful  to  some  printers,  but  it  is  now 
being  done  with  ease,  as  indeed  for  the  past  five  years,  by 
a  plant  having  a  $3200  modern  equipment.  Carefully- 
kept  records  show  that  at  least  SSy^fo  of  the  time  in  the 
composing-room  is  non-produdive,  and  nearly  40^  in  the 
press-room.  All  expenditures  outside  of  those  actually 
entering  into  the  cost  of  operating  these  two  rooms  are 
charged  as  "office  expenses,"  that  they  be  not  confused 
with  "general  expense,"  which  includes  both  "office  ex- 
penses" and  expenses  diredly  chargeable  to  each  of  the 
other  two  departments. 


OFFICE  EXPENSES 

Manager  (owner)  '       . 

Interest  on  Office  Fixtures  ($200  at  5%) 

Depreciation  on  Office  Fixtures  ($200  at  10*',^) 

Bad  Accounts  (2%  of  amount  of  business  done) 

Interest  on  Book  Accounts  ($1000  at  5'/  ) 

Interest  on  Paper  Stock  (an  average  of  $800  at  5^^  ) 

Errand  Boy  ($3.50  a  week) 

Postage  and  Advertising 

Express,  Freight,  Cartage 

Telephone 

Office  Stationerv 

Telegrams,  VVrapping-Paper,  Twine 

Trade  Journals,  etc. 

Soap,  Towels,  Carfare,  Messenger,  Ice,  etc. 

Light  .  ,  .  .  . 

Total  Office  Expense  for  year 


Inventory  $200 


$1500 

10 

20 

200 

50 
40 

180 
150 

45 
40 

10 

10 

20 
10 


$2460 


'1 


STARTING  A  PRINTING-OFFICE 


53 


$    90 

180 

180 

24 

27 

15 

20 

34 

% 

570 

• 

[476 

COMPOSING-ROOM  Inventory  $i8oo 

Interest  on  ^1800  at  5% 
Depreciation  on  $1800  at  10%  , 

^Three-fifths  Rent  ($300) 
Three-fifths  Insurance  ($40  on  ^3000) 
Three-fifths  Taxes  (.015  on  S3000  z=.  $45) 
Three-fifths  Light  ($25  a  year) 
Accidents,  Pi,   Broken  Type,  Damaged  Material, 
Waste,  Proof- Paper,  Twine,  Sponges,  etc 
Errors  in  proof-reading,  etc. 

Three-fifths  Office  Expense  ($2460) 

Total  Composing-Room  Expense  for  year  aside  from  Wages       $2046 

WAGES: 

Foreman      $18  week,  $   3.00  day      ^^^  ^^^^  .  ^^^^^  ^^^    ^^^^^^^ 

Compositor    15  week,       2.50  day  ^^6.82  Daily  Gen. Exp. 

Apprentice       6  week,        i.oo  day  ^ 

%  6.50  daily  wages 

6.82  daily  general  expense 
9  hours  )  $13.32  cost  Comp.-Room  for  day  of  9  hours 

%    1.48  cost  Comp.  -  Room  each  hour  of  9-hour  day 

6  produdive  hours  )  $13.32  cost  Comp.-Room  for  day  of  9  hours 

3  men  \  $   2.22  cost  for  each  produftive  hour 

%      .74  average  cost  for  a  man  each  produ6live  hour 
Add  for  profit,  15%    %      .11 

%      .85  average  selling  hour-rate  for  each  man 


PRESS-ROOM 

Interest  on  $1200  at  5% 
Depreciation  on  $1200  at  10% 
*Two-fifths  Rent  ($300) 
Two-fifths  Insurance  ($40  on  $3000) 
Two-fifths  Taxes  (.015  on  $3000  =  $45) 
Two-fifths  Light  ($25  a  year) 
Power,  one-horse  eledric  motor 
Ink  .... 

Forward 


Inventory  $1200 


60 
120 
120 
16 
18 
10 
72 
60 


$   476 


'!) 


54 


STARTING  A  PRINTING-OFFICE 


Forward 
Accidents,  Delays  for  Repairs,  Broken  Parts,  etc. 
Errors  in  cutting  stock,  make-up,  etc. 
Rollers,  Brayers,  Brushes,  Brooms 
Oil,  Benzine,  Lye 
Sundry  Expenses  .  . 


$  476 

35 
35 

15 

10 

«5 


Two-fifths  Office  Expense  ($2460) 

Total  Press- Room  Expense  for  year  aside  from  Wages 


984 

$1580 


300  days  )  $1580  Gen.  Expense 
$5.27  Daily  Gen. Exp. 


WAGES: 
Pressman     $15  week,  $   2.50  day 
Feeder  9  week,        1.50  day 

Feeder  6  week,        1.00  day 

$    5.00  daily  wages 

5.27  daily  general  expense 
9  hours  )  $10.27  cost  Press- Room  for  day  of  9  hours 

$    \7\4f.  cost  Press- Room  each  hour  of  9-hour  day 

5  produftive  hours  \  $10.27  cost  Press-Room  for  day  of  9  hours 
3  men  \  $    2.05  cost  for  each  productive  hour 

$      !^68  average  cost  for  a  man  each   produdive  hour 

Add  for  profit,  15%$      .10 

^      ^78^  average  selling  hour-rate  for  each  man 


*The  items  of  rent,  insurance,  taxes,  and  light  are  apportioned  to  the 
manufacturing  departments  in  accordance  with  the  ratio  the  inventory  of 
each  department  bears  to  the  general  inventory  after  deducing  office  furni- 
ture. Thus  the  composing-room  ($1800)  is  three-fifths,  while  the  press- 
room ($1200)  is  two-fifths  of  the  general  inventory  ($3200  —  $200  office 
furniture  =  $3000). 

Careful  study  of  these  tables  will  show  just  how  each 
portion  of  the  expense  of  doing  business  is  ascertained. 
Office  expense  amounts  to  $2460  a  year,  composing-room 
expense  to  $570,  the  press-room  expense  to  I596.  To 
determine  the  proportion  of  general  expense  of  each  of 
these  departments  to  be  added  to  the  wage  cost,  that  share 
of  the  office  department  is  added  in  ratio  to  the  value  of 


STARTING  A  PRINITNG-OFFICE 


55 


each  of  those  two  departments.  In  the  composing-room, 
which  bears  three-fifths  of  the  office  expense  of  I2460, 
cost  of  operating  is  found  to  be  $570  plus  $1476,  or  $2046 
for  the  year.  On  a  basis  of  300  working  days,  this  makes 
the  cost  of  operating  the  composing-room,  aside  from 
wages,  $6.82  for  a  day  of  nine  hours.  Three  men  are  em- 
ployed,— a  foreman  at  $3.00  a  day,  a  compositor  at  $2.50, 
an  apprentice  at  $1.00;  total  daily  wages  for  composing- 
room,  I6.50.  We  have  already  ascertained  the  general 
expense  of  the  composing-room  to  be  $2046  for  300  days, 
or  $6.82  a  day  of  nine  hours.  This,  added  to  the  wages 
cost  ($6.50),  makes  the  total  cost  of  composing-room  time 
1 1 3.3 2  for  a  nine-hour  day,  or  $1.48  an  hour.  But  expe- 
rience has  taught  that  in  a  composing-room  there  are  not 
more  than  six  produdive  hours  in  the  average  day.  We 
therefore  divide  the  day-cost  ($13.32)  by  6  instead  of  9, 
and  thus  find  that  the  cost  for  each  productive  hour  is 
$2.22,  or  an  average  of  74  cents  for  each  man.  To  this 
should  be  added  15^  for  profit,  making  85  cents  the  rate 
to  be  charged  for  composing-room  time.  Now  the  appren- 
tice, who  receives  but  $1.00  a  day,  produces  not  more 
than  the  relative  amount  of  work  for  which  he  is  paid, 
and  to  charge  85  cents  an  hour  for  his  time  would  be  man- 
ifestly unreasonable.  It  would,  however,  be  proper  to 
charge  the  produdive  time  of  the  three  men  at  such  an 
hour-rate  each  as  would  bear  practically  the  same  relation 
to  other  hour-rates  as  wages  paid  to  each  bear  to  other 
wages,  the  totals  being  of  course  the  same.  This  would  be 
say  $1.00  for  the  foreman,  90  cents  for  the  journeyman 
compositor,  and  65  cents  for  the  apprentice.  This  for  the 
apprentice  may  seem  high,  but  it  must  not  be  forgotten 
that  he  is  constantly  receiving  instrudion  from  foreman 


\ 


56 


STARTING  A  PRINTING-OFFICE 


or  compositor,  for  whose  time  thus  employed  no  charge 
could  otherwise  be  made,  and  that  some  commercial  value 
attaches  to  the  time  of  an  apprentice  who  has  advanced  to 
the  six-dollar-a-week  stage. 

Three  men  also  are  required  in  the  press-room, —  a 
pressman  at  $2. 50  a  day,  a  feeder  at  $1.50,  and  a  boy 
who  is  learning  to  feed  and  can  attend  to  padding  and 
gathering  and  wrapping  finished  work,  at  $  i  .00;  total  dady 
wages  for  press-room,  $5.00.  The  table  shows  the  general 
expense  of  the  press-room  to  be  $1580  for  300  days,  or 
I5.27  a  day  of  nine  hours.  This,  added  to  the  wages  cost 
($5.00),  makes  the  total  cost  of  press-room  time  $10.27 
for  a  nine-hour  day,  or  $1.14  an  hour.  But  the  produd- 
ive  hours  in  the  press-room  are  not  more  than  five  out  of 
nine.  We  therefore  divide  the  day-cost  (510.27)  by  5  in- 
stead of  9,  and  thus  find  that  the  cost  for  each  productive 
hour  is  $2.05,  or  an  average  of  68  cents  for  each  man. 
To  this  should  be  added  15^  for  profit,  making  78  cents 
the  rate  to  be  charged  for  press-room  time.  The  same 
argument  holds  good  in  apportioning  time  in  the  press- 
room according  to  the  worth  of  each  man,  so  we  would 
charge  95  cents  for  the  pressman,  80  cents  for  the  feeder, 
and  60  cents  for  the  boy,  instead  of  78  cents  for  each. 

By  this  system  each  department  bears  a  part  of  the  gen- 
eral expense  proportioned  to  its  value.  Each  department 
will  cost  more  or  less  according  to  the  work  produced.  It 
is  here  assumed  that  six  men  are  steadily  employed,  and 
upon  that  basis  the  hour-cost  is  figured.  Should  an  extra 
man  be  put  on,  as  must  often  be  the  case  when  work  is 
rushing,  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  re-adjust  the  propor- 
tion of  general  expense  that  each  man's  time  must  bear. 
If  he  be  paid  $2.50  a  day,  his  time  should  be  charged  at 


STARTING  A  PRINTING-OFFICE 


57 


the  same  hour-rate  as  that  of  another  regular  employee 
receiving  a  like  amount.  There  is  in  this  some  "fat"  for 
the  office,  to  be  sure;  but  the  new  man  will  be  unfamiliar 
with  the  layout  and  material  of  the  plant,  and  the  style  of 
the  office.  His  consequent  loss  of  time  will  be  hardly  more 
than  compensated  by  negleding  to  reduce  the  proportion 
of  general  expense  attaching  to  the  time  of  those  regularly 
employed  and  adding  it  to  that  of  the  extra  man.  Should 
this  extra  temporary  man  become  a  permanent  employee, 
his  time  would  then  bear  its  proportion  of  the  general  ex- 
pense. A  memorandum  of  the  figures  used  should  be  kept 
for  reference,  and  when  it  becomes  necessary  to  re-adjust 
them  because  of  employment  of  additional  help,  it  can  be 
done  very  easily  and  quickly. 

To  determine  cost  or  selling  price  of  stock,  add  a  per- 
centage for  transportation,  handling  and  spoilage.  Five 
per  cent,  is  not  too  much  to  allow  for  waste  of  paper  in 
printing — far  more  may  be  required  for  short  runs  of  fine 
work  or  close  register.  A  charge  of  twenty  per  cent,  for 
transportation,  storage,  and  handling  should  be  made  on 
large  lots  of  paper;  on  jobs  for  which  stock  costs  $25  to 
$50,  25^;  from  $5  to  $25,  ^^y7,%',  less  than  $5,  50^. 
These  percentages  are  purely  arbitrary,  but  experience 
teaches  that  they  are  none  too  high.  Cutting  should  be 
charged  at  the  same  hour-rate  as  press-work. 


58 


STARTING  A  PRINTING-OFFICE 


CHAPTER  XII 


BOOKKEEPING 


IF  the  printer  possesses  no  knowledge  of  bookkeeping 
there  is  little  likelihood  that  he  will  become  a  suc- 
cessful business  man;  for  unless  one  has  constant  and 
accurate  information  as  to  the  state  of  his  finances,  he  is 
inviting  ruin  and  disaster.  This  information  can  be  gained 
in  no  other  way  so  well  as  by  double-entry  bookkeeping. 
Many  books  there  are,  designed  to  aid  the  printer  in  his 
oft-laborious  task  of  ascertaining  and  recording  transac- 
tions in  cash  or  credit — principally  the  latter.  Of  great 
assistance,  too,  in  the  solution  of  the  cost-question  from 
adual  records  (and  this  is  the  only  correc^t  solution),  they 
are  still  unable  to  protect  him  from  the  pitfalls  that  are  so 
thickly  strewn  along  the  thorny  pathway  to  success.  Bet- 
ter, indeed,  to  enter  business  life  without  capital  than 
without  knowledge  of  bookkeeping.  I'he  double-entry 
theory  is  easily  mastered  and  as  readily  applied  to  the 
printing  business.  Its  accomplishment  is  one  of  the  most 
valuable  assets  a  business  man  can  have,  and  the  appren- 
tice of  today,  who  is  the  business  man  of  tomorrow,  will 
do  well  to  study  the  subjed  during  his  leisure  hours. 

Applying  this  system  to  the  office  now  under  consider- 
ation, it  is  necessary  first  to  ascertain  the  hour-rate  at 
which  labor  is  to  be  charged.  This  having  been  done  as 
set  forth  in  the  preceding  chapter  ("Determining  Cost") 
time  of  the  different  operations  is  transferred  from  time- 


STARTING  A  PRINTING-OFFICE 


59 


tickets  to  job-ticket  and  columns  footed.  The  bookkeeper 
then  charges  the  jobs  on  the  journal  under  head  of  "Sun- 
dries Dr.  To  Mdse."  (Fig.  7.)    As  each  item  is  entered 


^-i- 


.Tai 


Sbl  /rryrtti 


STi, 


J7v 


r^ 


&.^A^^CZ^       <§^^ 


JiJo 


3J 


/V 


■To 


7 


/rt-t      ^.< 


Zi.x-J 


2> 


/J. 


<9v 


"^A 


J 


^ 


/^ 


j^ 


/i^i//S 


6c 


JJ- 


S\ro 


^j- 


/  STd 


/'/^ 


FIG.    7 A   PAGE   FROM  THE  JOURNAL 


6o 


STARTING  A  PRINTING-OFFICE 


i;  ^ 


under  this  heading  It  Is  numbered  and  the  same  number 
written  in  the  lower  left-hand  corner  of  the  job-ticket 
(Fig.  t)  in  the  proper  place. 

After  the  several  jobs  have  been  thus  charged  on  the 
journal,  the  card-index  (Fig.  8)  is  written  up.  This  con- 


:ux 


lUOy^        V-t 


1) 


jLLO. 


V_^*«-_>2^-?^^ 


_?^^*5?w-_«^_v5&S-*L 


FIG.    8 THE  CARD-INDEX 


sists  of  a  series  of  ruled  cards  3x5  inches  in  size,  fitting 
a  box  provided  with  movable  indexes  of  the  same  size, 
alphabetically  arranged  and  subdivided.  Several  of  these 
systems,  varying  only  in  detail,  are  on  the  market.  Cost, 
including  box,  cards  and  indexes,  is  about  $1.50;  additional 
cards  may  be  printed  by  the  office  at  any  time.  The  box 
should  be  kept  in  the  top  left-hand  drawer  of  the  mana- 
ger's desk.  On  the  top  of  the  card  is  written  the  name  of 
the  customer;  in  the  second  column  a  number  correspond- 
ing with  that  of  the  journal  charge  and  the  job-ticket,  and 
this  is  followed  by  a  brief  description  of  the  job.  The 
card  is  then  placed  in  the  Index-box  under  the  proper  let- 
ter. Now  from  the  fourth  or  "completed  work"  sedlon 
of  the  job-envelope  boxes  (Fig.  3)  take  the  job-envelope 
(Fig.  2)  and  in  the  space  reserved  for  it  In  the  upper  left- 
hand  corner  write  the  number  already  appearing  on  job- 
ticket  and  journal  charge,  and  file  the  envelope.   For  this 


STARTING  A  PRINTING-OFFICE 


61 


we  utilize  part  of  the  top  of  the  manager^s  desk,  whereon 
is  a  frame  24  inches  long,  1 1  inches  wide  and  lo]/^  inches 
high,  built  originally  of  strips  of  four-line  reglet,  var- 
nished. Within  this  frame  (which  may  be  made  as  much 
longer  as  desired,  and  for  which  light  brass  or  japanned 
iron  wire  looks  exceedingly  well)  there  may  be  kept  five 
hundred  envelopes  or  more,  numerically  arranged.  When 
it  Is  filled,  remove  one  hundred  of  the  lowest-numbered 
envelopes  and  store  them,  neatly  wrapped  and  labelled, 
in  the  stock-room. 

By  means  of  the  number  on  the  index-card,  the  entire 
history  of  any  job  is  Instantly  available.  This  number 
gives  the  journal  entry,  and  also  locates  the  job-ticket 
with  a  record  of  the  various  operations  on  the  job,  and 
the  job-envelope  with  original  copy,  proofs,  and  two  or 
three  samples  of  the  finished  work.  There  Is  no  hunting 
for  lost  copy,  no  tedious  search  through  cumbersome  sam- 
ple-books for  a  copy  of  the  job,  no  lost  record  of  its  cost. 
When  an  order  comes  to  "duplicate  last  lot,"  a  sample 
and  all  necessary  information,  including  price,  is  immedi- 
ately at  hand.  This  feature  alone  is  of  Inestimable  value, 
yet  it  is  but  one  of  many  reasons  which  make  the  card 
index  of  greatest  imaginable  worth  to  the  modern  business 
man.  Upon  completion  of  a  job  which  is  a  duplicate  ot 
an  order  previously  received,  careful  comparison  of  both 
former  and  latter  job-tickets  should  be  made.  Nothing  else 
will  give  so  clear  an  insight  Into  the  value  of  work  as  this 
comparison  of  cost  of  one  job  with  kindred  jobs. 

The  manager  should  make  it  a  rule  to  transfer  the  time 
from  time-ticket  to  job-ticket  daily,  to  transfer  charges 
from  job-ticket  to  journal  at  least  once  a  week,  and  to 
take  a  trial-balance  of  his  books  every  month.  This  bal- 


I 


62 


STARTING  A  PRINTING-OFFICE 


ance  must  be  made  to  come  out  corred: — to  balance  \  and 
although  locating  an  error  on  a  trial-balance  sheet  is  most 
tedious,  the  task  should  not  be  dropped  until  the  error  is 
found  and  correded.  Entries  being  footed  and  transferred 
properly,  the  balance  cannot  fail  to  result.  From  the  trial- 
balance  should  be  drawn  up  a  monthly  statement  showing 
assets  and  liabilities.  At  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year,  books 
should  be  closed,  interest,  depreciation,  and  uncolledlible 
accounts  charged  off,  inventory  taken,  accounts  balanced, 
and  the  percentage  of  profit — if  this  system  be  followed 
it  certainly  cannot  be  loss — duly  ascertained. 

It  will  be  easy  to  take  inventory  if  a  book  be  kept  in 
which  is  entered  a  record,  as  soon  as  it  is  purchased,  of  all 
material  that  is  to  remain  permanently  in  the  office.  Only 
the  stock,  which  is  constantly  fiuc^tuating,  need  then  be 
counted  and  listed  at  each  inventory.  In  addition  to  the 
ledger  accounts  of  Merchandise,  Stock,  Cash,  and  l-^rofit 
and  Loss,  these  also  should  be  kept:  Cartage,  Expense, 
Advertising,  Spoilage,  and  Discount.  Under  Expense  is 
to  be  included  every  item  not  chargeable  to  any  of  these 
other  accounts. 

l^he  printer  who  desires  to  start  in  business  for  himself 
but  has  no  understanding  of  bookkeeping  should  have  a 
competent  accountant  open  a  set  of  books  and  instruct 
him  in  their  proper  use.  It  will  repay  him  a  thousandfold. 


STARTING  A  PRINTING-OFFICE 


63 


\i 


CHAPTER  XIII 

PREPARING  AND  GIVING  ESTIMATES 

MORE  failures  of  printers  have  been  charged  to 
errors  in  estimating — to  what  Mr.  Herbert  L. 
Baker  rightly  calls  "guesstimating" — than  to  al- 
most all  other  causes  combined.  Some  truth  there  is  in 
this,  but  the  generalization  is  far  too  sweeping.  Broadly 
speaking,  the  printer  who  is  careless,  incompetent,  hasty, 
indifierent  in  his  estimating  is  so  to  an  extent  in  the  con- 
du(^l  of  his  business.  Hence,  the  lopping  of  faults  in  this 
department  is  but  hand-in-hand  with  similar  work  in  all 
the  plant.  The  degree  of  care  applied  to  estimating  that 
is  applied  to  mechanical  and  financial  features  will  not  fail 
to  result  in  satisfadion  and  profit.  But — that  no  losses 
occur  through  divergence  between  estimate  and  produd, 
it  is  necessary  that  the  hand  of  the  workman  be  no  less 
nimble  than  the  brain  of  the  estimator;  that  when  experi- 
enced judgment  says  that  a  certain  job  ought  to  be  set  or 
run  in  a  given  time,  it  must  be  so  set  or  so  run.  On  the 
ability  to  obtain  this  result  depends  success  of  manager, 
profit  of  plant.  Hear  the  American  Printer  on  this  theme. 
It  is  in  dired  accord  with  what  is  said  elsewhere  in  these 
pages  regarding  the  necessity  of  teaching  workmen  their 
trade  and  something  more,  and  of  creating  and  maintain- 
ing that  unity  of  good-feeling — that  esprit  de  corps — with- 
out which  no  office,  no  business,  can  attain  best  results. 

That  through  ignorance  much  work  is  done  at  less  than  cost  goes  with- 


Mkr,.. 


64 


STARTING  A  PRINTING-OFFICE 


out  denial.    Yet  to  put  all  or  most  of  the  blame  on  faulty  estimating  is  far 
from  just  to  the  many  first-class  men  who  are  perfciftly  competent.    The 
up-to-date  printer  does  not  so  often  under-estimate  what  the  work  should 
cost.    Neither  is  the  prevailing  price,  generally  speaking,  much  below  what 
it  should  be  to  allow  a  good,  liberal  margin  of  profit,  if  the  work  be  done 
by  skilled  labor.    Where,  then,  is  to  be  found  the  cause  of  all  this  loss? 
One  great  cause  lies  in  waste  of  time  while  inefficient  workmen  are  hesi- 
tating and  experimenting.    To  anyone  in  constant  touch  with  the  details  of 
printing,  it  is  apparent  that  incompetency  causes  more  losses  than  does  care- 
less estimating.    For  in  printing,  labor  often  forms  by  far  the  largest  item 
of  cost,  and  hence  to  increase  this  item  of  expense  to  any  extent  is  certain 
to  wipe  out  profit  and  even  cause  loss.    How  to  induce  the  rising  generation 
to  secure   a   knowledge  of  detail  sufficient  to  ensure  the  best  work  with 
the  least  expenditure  of  time — this  is  the  problem  we  must  answer  cor- 
redly  if  we  would  make  the  printing  of  the  future  a  business  of  profit  and 
pleasure.    In  other  words,  printing  will  be  a  success  only  when  run  on  true 
business  principles.    One  thing  is  certain:  a  cheap,  unskilled  workman  is  not 
profitable  to  himself  or  to  his  employer.  With  no  systematic  instruftion  and 
no  one  to  explain  the  cause  and  the  fundamental  principles,  so  that  reason 
should  re-enforce  the  hand,  one  seldom  comes  to  be  sufficiently  skilled  to 
execute  work  at  a  profit.    The  hope  for  the  future,  then,  lies  largely  in  so 
training  the  young  that  they  shall  lay  a  firm  foundation  ot  knowledge  of  the 
details  that  shall  make  it  possible  for  them  to  do  the  very  best  of  work  in 
less  time  than  it  takes  the  inexperienced  to  do  poor  work. 

A  most  fruitful  source  of  error  in  estimating  is  com- 
pliance with  requests  to  give  figures  off-hand,  verbally,  or 
more  frequently  by  telephone  while  Central  punduates  the 
mental  calculations  with  a  sweetly-spoken  but  maddening 
"Waiting?"  Decline  if  possible  to  accede  to  such  requests, 
unless  for  standard  work,  as  stationery  and  the  like,  where 
prices  are  already  fixed.  For  anything  that  calls  for  com- 
putation and  has  an  element  of  uncertainty  as  to  amount 
of  labor,  there  should  be  time  sufficient  for  careful  con- 
sideration, it  being  explained  that  in  this  way  only  can 
there  be  prepared  an  estimate  at  all  just  to  both  parties. 
We  find  it  best  to  have  all  estimates  made  by  two  experi- 
enced men,  working  simultaneously  but  quite  indepen- 


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dently,  whose  items  and  totals  are  carefully  verified  before 
estimate-blanks  are  exchanged  and  compared.  Differences 
are  noted,  errors  correded  (these  are  usually  matters  of 
minutiae  only  and  scarcely  affed:  the  result),  and  a  new 
estimate  written  in  accordance  with  the  best  knowledge 
obtainable,  a  carbon-copy  being  of  course  retained  of  the 
letter  sent  to  the  prospective  customer.  The  original  blank, 
containing  all  information,  is  filed;  entry  of  name,  date, 
character  of  work,  and  price,  is  made  on  a  card-index. 
Should  the  order  be  secured,  that  fad,  together  with  date 
of  completion,  may  also  be  noted.  For  estimate-blanks, 
we  use  the  job-ticket  already  illustrated  (Fig.  i).  Hereon 
are  listed  in  detail  all  operations  necessary  for  the  produc- 
tion of  the  work,  so  arranged  that  there  is  little  possibility 
of  overlooking  any  of  them,  with  columns  for  net  and 
gross  cost  of  all  items. 

By  this  plan  of  estimating,  the  chances  of  omitting  or 
overlooking  any  items  of  cost — and  these  chances  always 
exist,  even  wdth  blanks  prepared  most  carefully — are  min- 
imized. The  index  gives  instant  access  to  the  details  of 
any  estimate.  And  of  greatest  importance  is  it  that  each 
item  of  cost  of  the  finished  job,  as  shown  by  the  job-ticket, 
should  be  compared  with  the  corresponding  figures  on  the 
estimate-blank.  Enquire  closely  into  any  variance.  If  unu- 
sual circumstances  militated  against  production  of  the  job 
at  the  price  expected,  specify  them  on  the  ticket.  If  errors 
of  judgment  or  computation  caused  loss,  here  is  safeguard 
against  their  repetition,  for  all  subsequent  estimates  are  to 
be  made  on  knowledge  acquired  by  means  of  these  records 
and  this  comparison.  The  basis  of  computation  is  of  course 
the  selling  price  of  materials  and  labor,  ascertained  as  set 
forth  in  the  chapter  on  "Determining  Cost." 


\\: 


I 


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Exercise  what  has  been  aptly  described  as  "of  all  things 
most  desirable  but  most  uncommon  —  good  common- 
sense"  in  giving  estimates.  Quite  useless  is  it  to  expend 
time  and  toil  on  bids  for  work  which  is  known  to  be  ped- 
dled through  all  the  offices  in  town  in  the  hope  of  saving 
ten  or  fifteen  cents  on  a  five-dollar  job.  Someone  is  certain 
to  figure  so  low  that  there's  no  profit  in  the  job  when  it 
is  done;  and  the  earnest  aim  of  every  printer  should  be 
to  secure  only  those  orders  that  yield  him  profit,  allowing 
his  competitors  to  perspire  over  those  where  profit  is  not. 
If  all  printers  would  but  follow  this  plan,  there  would  be 
none  to  accept  the  profitless  work,  and  this  from  very 
force  of  circumstance  must  soon  become  profit-bearing. 
Until  such  time  as  that,  see  to  it  that  at  least  you,  reader, 
handle  nothing  that  does  not  produce  revenue. 

Never  allow  a  customer  to  make  the  price  for  his  print- 
ing. Prepare  estimates  according  to  your  best  knowledge 
and  verify  them;  then  when  figures  have  been  made,  main- 
tain them  consistently.  If  specifications  change,  make  only 
corresponding  changes  in  price.  Should  it  be  said  that  a 
neighboring  printer  will  do  the  job  for  a  little  less  than 
the  price  you  have  named,  answer  that  he  will  doubtless 
give  the  value  of  the  money,  but  that  the  work  you  plan 
to  do  will  be  worth  more  to  the  customer  than  that  which 
the  neighbor  is  to  give,  and  show  plainly  why  your  work 
is  to  be  preferred  to  his.  If  the  difference  in  price  prove 
too  great  to  be  overcome  in  this  way,  say  pleasantly, — 
"Sorry,  for  we'd  like  to  do  this  work,  and  we'll  produce 
a  job  thoroughly  first-class  and  satistadory  to  you;  but 
we  cannot  do  it  at  such  a  price.  Isn't  it  possible  that  our 
friend  and  neighbor  has  made  a  mistake,  or  is  not  tully 
conversant  with  all  the  fads  in  the  case,  or  is  not  figuring 


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67 


on  precisely  the  same  as  this  you  have  brought  us?  At 
any  rate,  we  have  given  you  a  price  as  low  as  we  can  make 
for  the  grade  of  printing  we  do,  and  we  are  confident  that 
if  you  will  leave  the  job  you  will  be  pleased  with  the  result 
and  will  be  willing  to  pay  our  price." 

Sometimes  this  will  be  effedual  and  the  order  will  be 
left  without  further  parley;  but  if  the  lower  price  be  still 
insisted  on,  there  is  nothing  to  do  save  smile  and  assure 
the  customer  that  you  will  be  pleased  to  meet  him  again 
whenever  he  may  have  other  work.  See  that  he  leaves 
pleasantly,  whether  his  order  be  taken  or  left.  Do  not 
"knock"  a  competitor  in  the  presence  of  his  customer,  or 
your  customer,  or  anyone. 

Never  take  printing  at  a  price  less  than  is  known  to  be 
profitable.  Be  assured  that  it  is  better  to  be  for  the  mo- 
ment idle  than  to  fill  the  office  with  work  to  be  billed  at 
so  low  a  price  that  there  is  temptation  to  resort  to  ques- 
tionable methods  to  avoid  loss.  Do  not  take  "fillers"  at 
any  price.  Money  is  almost  invariably  lost,  the  result  is 
unsatisfadory,  the  orderly  procedure  of  the  office  is  inter- 
rupted, and  the  work  which  is  quite  likely  to  come  soon 
at  profitable  rates  cannot  be  so  well  handled. 


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CHAPTER  XIV 

COLLECTIONS  AND   PAYMENTS 

HERE,  as  at  the  axis  of  a  circle,  are  centered  all  the 
forces  that  make  for  and  against  the  final  profit 
of  the  printer.  Be  he  never  so  well-fitted  or  so 
well-equipped,  never  so  careful  in  locating  and  outfitting 
his  plant,  never  so  wise  in  the  seledion  and  management 
of  his  employees,  never  so  ardent  and  tireless  in  the  seek- 
ing and  the  produdion  of  that  class  of  work  for  which  he 
is  best  intended  and  which  should  thus  yield  him  great- 
est revenue, — all  these  avail  nothing  unless  he  be  prompt 
and  careful  in  this  most  vital  matter  of  obtaining  what  is 
his  due  and  paying  others  what  is  their  due.  Every  wheel 
in  a  printing  plant  may  turn  at  lightning  speed;  but  if 
they  turn  without  profit,  or  at  a  profit  that  is  lost  because 
not  colleded,  'twere  better  far  that  they  turn  not  at  all. 
This,  then,  is  the  cHmax, — the  crown  of  that  fabric  of 
sound  business  principles  and  common  honesty  to  one's 
self  and  one's  neighbor  whose  foundation  is  knowledge 
of  costs  and  methods  of  ascertaining  them,  whose  super- 
strudure  is  the  continuous,  faithful,  intelligent  application 
to  questions  of  daily  business  of  these  costs  and  this  know- 
ledge as  revised  and  perfeded  in  the  light  of  wider  expe- 
riences or  fuller  information,  whose  apex  is  the  tadful 
ability  to  make  customers  pay  willingly  for  work  finished 

and  delivered. 

Little  anxiety  need  be  felt  as  to  collection  of  bills  against 


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that  great  class  of  merchants  and  manufacturers  forming 
perhaps  the  main  body  of  printers'  customers, — those  who 
leave  the  order,  allow  reasonable  time  for  produdion  of  the 
work,  and  send  check  in  payment  within  three  or  four 
weeks.  This  custom  the  printer  seeks;  to  it  he  gives  most 
careful  attention;  from  it  he  derives  profit  and  that  inward 
glow  which  comes  from  knowledge  of  work  well  done 
and  appreciated.  But  over  against  these  stand  two  classes 
—  nay,  a  third  is  also  there — upon  which  may  be  charged 
all  the  burden  of  care  from  which  the  first  is  free. 

Foremost  in  this  list  place  those  who  may  have  little 
printing,  yet  are  financially  sound  and  are  personally 
known  to  the  printer-manager.  Such  a  one  will  place  a 
small  order — rarely  more  than  J 10,  frequently  less  than 
I5.  Goods  are  delivered,  invoice  mailed,  statements  ren- 
dered, all  without  bringing  what  Eugene  Field  loved  to 
refer  to  as  "ye  pelfe."  Thoughtlessness,  more  often  than 
other  reasons,  is  responsible  for  this  failure  to  pay,  which 
may  continue  for  months.  To  these,  and  indeed  to  all 
whose  accounts  are  overdue,  we  send  a  "Past-Due"  state- 
ment showing  date  and  amount  of  each  item,  suggesting 
that  the  matter  may  have  escaped  attention  and  inviting 
remittance  without  delay.  This  is  so  worded  that  no  ex- 
ception to  it  could  be  taken  by  even  a  super-sensitive 
debtor,  and  very  frequently  the  desired  check  is  at  once 
forthcoming.  But  should  this  notice  fail  of  efFed,  a  simi- 
lar statement  is  sent  by  the  office-boy,  with  request  that 
payment  be  made  to  him.  The  account  is  three  months 
old  or  more,  and  unless  there  now  comes  the  cash  or  a 
definite  promise  to  pay  at  a  specified  date  in  the  near  fu- 
ture, it  is  placed  on  the  list  for  immediate  colledion  and 
persistent  eflforts  made  to  that  end.   For  such  customers 


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IM 


I 

I 
I 


it  is  well  to  have  invoices  ready  with  the  work,  as  thus 
many  a  bill  is  promptly  paid  which  would  otherwise  linger 
for  weary  weeks.  Furthermore,  it  simplifies  bookkeeping 
and  obviates  the  necessity  of  clogging  the  ledger  with  a 
multitude  of  small  accounts. 

Less  frequent  but  more  vexatious  is  the  transient — a 
stranger  to  the  printer  and  the  town — who  first  demands 
an  especially  low  price,  then  sometimes  leaves  an  order 
without  the  cash,  or  even  a  deposit.  Perhaps  he  is  honest 
and  will  pay  in  due  season,  but  often  he  never  returns  at 
all,  or  only  to  "take  just  a  few,  and  come  back  in  an  hour 
or  two  for  the  rest"  if  the  printer  will  allow  it.  He  who  is 
so  unwise  as  to  accept  and  produce  work  under  such  cir- 
cumstances is  not  greatly  to  be  pitied  when  the  job  is 
left  on  his  hands,  useless  save  to  swell  the  receipts  of  the 
particular  son  of  Caesar  who  carries  away  the  waste  paper. 

But  still  worse  are  those  of  the  third  class — those  who 
have  reached  the  tertiary  stage — the  plain  dead-beats.  It 
is  these  who  obtain  printing  without  slightest  intention  of 
ever  paying  for  it,  yet  so  plausible  are  they,  so  ready  with 
glib  excuse,  that  rare  indeed  is  the  printer  who  has  not 
been  victimized  on  more  than  one  occasion.  True,  it  is 
difficult  to  know  these  beats  unless  by  adual  experience ; 
but  once  their  charader  is  learned  no  orders  from  them 
should  be  accepted  unless  fully  paid  in  advance.  And  if 
they  have  succeeded  in  securing  their  printing  without  an 
exchange  therefor  of  coin  of  the  realm,  use  legal  process 
to  compel  payment. 

In  this  connection  we  cannot  do  better  than  to  quote 
from  an  article  by  Mr.  F.  W.  Thomas  in  the  editorial 
columns  of  that  great  magazine  The  Inland  Printer: 

No  bill  under  J  5  should  ever  be  charged,  except  to  those  customers  hav- 


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71 


ing  regular  monthly  accounts.  It  is  an  imposition  for  a  transient  or  merely- 
occasional  customer  to  expeft  it.  Cash  in  advance  for  small  jobs  should 
invariably  be  insisted  upon  from  all  strangers;  on  larger  orders,  cash  or  sat- 
isfactory references;  and  references,  no  matter  how  good,  should  be  inves- 
tigated before  proceeding  with  the  work.  In  asking  for  credit,  a  stranger  is 
asking  a  favor,  and  it  is  legitimate  and  proper  that  he  should  be  expefted 
to  prove  his  right  to  it  before  receiving  it.  \^  on  polite  request  to  pay  cash 
or  furnish  references,  he  objefts,  it  is  fair  evidence  of  bad  intent,  and  loss 
of  his  order  will  prove  a  gain.  The  printer  should  make  it  his  business  to 
know  the  financial  standing  of  all  his  customers,  nor  should  he  permit  him- 
self to  get  rusty  on  the  subjeft.  Losses  from  bad  accounts  should  not  come 
to  more  than  one-half  of  one  per  cent,  of  total  sales,  but  they  will  exceed 
this  if  the  whole  matter  of  credits  is  not  closely  watched.  Colledling  of 
large  accounts  should  be  prompt  and  persistent.  The  small  or  medium- 
sized  office  should  not  ordinarily  have  on  its  books,  at  any  one  time,  more 
than  the  amount  of  one  month's  business. 

I  have  said  that  credit  is  a  favor.  Printers  need  to  have  this  impressed 
upon  them,  and  they  need  to  impress  it  tadlfully  upon  their  customers.  In- 
stead of  **Do  you  want  this  charged?"  the  printer  should  say,  **You  wish 
to  pay  this  bill  now,  do  you  not?"  Much  of  the  present  habit  of  charging 
everything  could  be  avoided  by  ta6l  in  handling  customers.  Let  your  expec- 
tation and  manner  spell  cash;  take  it  for  granted  that  the  customer  intends 
to  pay  cash.  Make  him  feel  that  credit  is  the  unusual  thing  and  has  to  be 
asked  for,  and  many  times  he  will  pay  cash,  when,  had  your  manner  indi- 
cated that  you  did  not  expefl  cash,  he  would  have  said,  **Mail  me  the 
bill."  Invoices  should  be  made  out  and  sent  with  the  goods  or  handed  to 
the  customer  when  he  calls  for  the  goods.  Failure  to  have  them  ready  on 
time,  though  apparently  a  minor  matter,  is  responsible  for  the  charging  of 
many  small  items.  When  any  bill  is  charged,  other  than  to  customers  who 
have  regular  monthly  accounts,  there  should  always  be  a  distinct  under- 
standing as  to  when  the  bill  is  to  be  paid,  and  a  memorandum  made  and 
followed  up  promptly  when  the  time  arrives.  Let  the  customer  feel  that  you 
have  his  promise  to  pay  that  bill  at  a  certain  time  and  that  you  remember 
it  and  exped  him  to  take  up  his  promise. 

Indefinite  credit  is  disastrous.  ** Short  accounts  make  long  friends."  Do 
not  be  afraid  of  offending  people  by  asking  for  your  money.  The  man  who 
has  owed  you  for  three  months  is  more  apt  to  go  to  another  printer  for  his 
next  job  than  to  come  to  you.  The  very  faft  that  he  owes  you  will  keep 
him  away.  An  old  bill  is  harder  to  colleft  than  a  new  one — don't  let  them 
get  old.  And  above  all,  when  the  inevitable  happens  and  an  account  does 
get  decrepit,  don't  add  to  it.    It  is  simply  sending  good  money  after  bad. 


ifttew., 


i> 


f 


* 


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The  man  who  will  take  ofFense  at  being  made  to  pay  one  old  bill  would  be 
angrier  yet  if  you  tried  to  make  him  pay  two  old  bills. 

The  great  majority  of  people  will  pay  their  bills  with  a  reasonable  degree 
of  promptness  if  handled  with  tad  and  judgment,  but  there  is  a  certain  class 
who  have  no  intention  of  paying  anything  and  who  go  from  shop  to  shop, 
taking  advantage  of  the  foolish  secretive  antagonism  of  printers  among  them- 
selves, until  they  have  held  up  every  office  in  town.  If  there  is  an  organi- 
zation of  printers  in  a  city,  one  of  its  most  profitable  plans  would  be  the 
mutual  reporting  of  this  class,  so  that,  at  the  most,  the  depredations  of  each 
such  rascal  would  be  confined  to  the  first  ofFense.  If  there  is  no  such  organi- 
zation, it  would  seem  as  if  the  instind  of  self-preservation  would  didate  an 
immediate  combination  in  this  matter  at  least.  Certainly  no  printer  should 
objea  to  reporting  dead-beats  to  even  his  worst  competitors  if  he  receives 
like  service  in  return. 

But  to  resume  consideration  of  those  whose  custom  is 
desirable:  Work  having  been  completed  and  delivered,  an 
invoice  is  mailed  when  the  job-ticket  charges  are  entered 
in  the  journal, — once  a  week  or  oftener,— and  statements 
are  rendered  promptly  on  the  first  of  each  month  for  all 
work  done  up  to  that  time.  If  no  remittance  should  be 
received,  a  "Past-Due"  notice  is  soon  sent  for  all  items 
more  than  thirty  days  old.  This,  however,  is  seldom  nec- 
essary in  dealings  with  this  class  of  customers.  So  large  a 
proportion  of  the  cost  of  a  piece  of  printed  matter  is  labor 
which  has  been  already  paid  for  that  the  printer  is  hardly 
justified  in  granting  discount  for  spot  cash.  He  is  a  retailer 

not  a  wholesaler  or  a  jobber.  The  arguments  that  impel 

wholesale  houses  to  grant  this  concession  apply  but  feebly 
to  him;  his  terms  should  be  thirty  days  net.  Yet  there  is 
a  class  of  custom  to  which  it  may  be  advisable  to  allow  a 
discount — for  instance,  manufaduring  corporations  which 
use  much  printing  and  make  weekly  settlements. 

Wherever  discounts  are  allowed  by  those  from  whom 
a  printer  buys,  he  should  take  advantage  of  them,  and  in 
any  event  he  should  make  it  a  point  to  pay  bills  monthly. 


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73 


By  so  doing  he  will  gain  an  enviable  reputation  as  a  man 
of  promptness  and  methodical  ways,  and  will  obtain  not 
only  better  service  but  better  terms.  Here  will  be  found 
very  useful  that  unexpended  balance  of  the  printer's  funds 
referred  to  in  Chapter  II  as  having  been  banked  for  work- 
ing capital,  thus  enabling  him  to  meet  bills  as  they  become 
due  without  crippling  his  resources  or  paring  his  bank  ac- 
count to  the  quick. 


1 


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CHAPTER  XV 

ADVERTISING  AND  OFFICE  STATIONERY 

CREATE  advertising  matter  that  shall  be  unique, 
forceful,  attradive,  successful.   Put  into  it  the  very 
best  that  in  you  lies,  whether  the  writing,  the  de- 
signing, or  the  printing.  Seek  by  every  means  at  your 
command  to  lift  your  own  publicity  far  above  that  dreary 
level  of  mere  mediocrity  whereon  are  stagnating  hundreds 
of  printers.   Impart  to  it  a  snap,  a  vitality,  that  shall  make 
of  it  a  shining  exception  to  that  great  mass  of  hasty  adver- 
tising which  is  weak  in  argument,  crude  in  design,  indif- 
ferent in  execution,  insufficient  in  results,  generally  unsat- 
isfadory.   For,  speaking  in  a  sense  land-wide  and  broadly 
comprehensive,  printers  are  not  good  advertisers.  They 
cling  too  closely  to  precedents,  or  else  they  run  too  far 
afield  in  search  of  novelty, — and  the  one  is  as  colorless 
as  the  other  is  elusive;  either  will  detradt  from  the  true 
mission  of  the  announcement,  which  is  to  bring  business. 
There  are  of  course  many  printers  whose  advertismg 
has  reached  so  high  a  plane  that  naught  save  praise  can  be 
said  concerning  it.  Witness  to  this  is  borne  in  the  columns 
of  trade,  journals  month  by  month.  That  the  number  of 
these  is  not  greater  is  very  largely  due,  we  believe,  to  indo- 
lence; to  apparent  lack  of  time  but  adual  lack  of  inclination 
to  produce  or  even  prepare  advertising  announcements. 
There  is  a  desire  to  await  the  time  when  business  droops 
and  orders  falter;  but  when  that  comes  copy  is  seldom  at 


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hand,  the  advertisement  is  perhaps  hurriedly  construded 
or  perhaps  laid  aside  for  "that  'more  convenient  season' 
which  Cometh  ne'er  again." 

Here,  then,  is  the  first  requisite — do  not  wait  for  that 
"dull  month"  before  writing  or  printing  advertisements. 
Let  the  task  of  preparation  be  constant;  let  there  be  well- 
defined  plans — a  system — along  which  to  work;  have  a 
regular  Hst  for  mailing  the  announcements  as  issued,  and 
correct  it  frequently;  let  it  comprise  names  of  all  present 
patrons  and  those  whom  you  desire  to  add  to  your  clien- 
tele; vary  the  advertisements,  and  strive  earnestly  to  make 
them  unhackneyed,  something  to  produce  a  pleasing  and 
lasting  impression.  Prepare  this  list  from  the  ledger,  from 
city  and  telephone  diredories,  and  from  all  other  sources. 
Include  also  the  names  of  those  in  nearby  towns  who  are 
or  ought  to  be  your  customers.  Send  reminders  at  frequent 
intervals,  say  once  in  four  or  five  weeks. 

Cherish  those  forms  of  advertising  whose  value  has  been 
proven,  and  employ  them  always  in  most  advantageous 
manner.  Blotters,  those  long-time  favorites  of  the  printer, 
are  always  good  advertising,  and  if  used  by  one  printer  in 
a  town  and  mailed  to  reach  customers  early  on  the  first 
day  of  the  month,  are  certain  to  bring  results.  But  he  who 
is  really  progressive  will  supplement  blotters  with  other 
forms  of  publicity;  and  should  he  find  his  competitors 
also  sending  out  blotters,  he  is  wise  to  devote  his  energies 
largely  to  other  means. 

If  one  has  a  taste  for  it,  there  is  really  nothing  better 
than  the  issuance  of  a  little  magazine — a  house  organ,  if 
you  please — given  over  chiefly  to  the  exploiting  of  those 
features  wherein  the  plant  of  its  publisher  excels  other 
plants.  Needless  to  add,  the  contents  should  be  interest- 


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'- 


m 


i^, 


fi 


ing  in  themselves  and  presented  in  a  pleasing  way;  well 
written,  with  an  occasional  serious  utterance  aside  from  its 
advertising  paragraphs  but  a  preponderance  of  fun  that  is 
of  local  application.  Mechanically,  every  detail  should  be 
as  near  perfedion  as  it  can  be  brought.  Mail  this  to  the 
regular  list,  and  in  each  of  the  first  two  or  three  numbers' 
enclose  a  self-addressed  private  post-card  inviting  the  recip- 
ient to  return  it  with  name  and  address  and  any  comment 
he  may  care  to  make,  should  he  wish  to  receive  the  pub- 
lication, which  of  course  is  sent  entirely  without  charge. 

We  have  for  several  months  followed  this  plan  with  a 
booklet  which  bears  the  euphonious  if  not  euphemistic 
title  of  The  Thomas  Cat.  This  has  sixteen  pages  and  cover, 
4^  X  65^  inches,  the  pages  having  rubrication  and  wide 
margins.  The  cover,  of  dark,  heavy  stock,  is  in  three  or 
four  printings,  and  is  of  course  from  typographic  design 
save  for  a  pidure  of  the  feline  whose  namesake  it  is,  and 
both  design  and  pidlure  change  with  each  issue.  We  fill 
the  brochure  with  such  matter  as  we  think  will  interest  and 
amuse  its  readers,  making  it  almost  purely  local.  While 
the  real  intent  and  purpose  is  to  call  attention  to  the  shop 
and  its  facilities  for  producing  best  grades  of  printing,  it 
is  kept  subservient  to  other  features  and  thereby  grows  up 
a  real  demand  for  the  magazine.  'Tis  rather  expensive, 
but  returns  its  cost  fourfold. 

Whenever  the  printer  adds  to  his  equipment  a  series 
of  new  type,  he  should,  especially  if  it  be  intended  prima- 
rily for  stationery  and  commercial  work,  print  a  number 
of  samples  showing  just  the  effed  of  this  new  type  when 
corredly  displayed  in  a  variety  of  forms  on  paper  of  proper 
shade  and  texture.  Manufadurers  are  sometimes  willing 
to  furnish  without  charge,  for  the  sake  of  the  publicity  so 


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77 


obtained,  the  stock  for  these  samples.  They  should  be  sent 
to  all,  whether  customers  or  not,  who  are  likely  to  become 
interested.  Frequently  the  orders  from  new  customers,  in 
dired:  response  to  these  specimens,  will  repay  the  cost  of 
the  type,  while  patrons  thus  gained  are  almost  certain  to 
remain,  being  those  who  are  attraded  by  merit  rather  than 
low  prices  or  other  empty  argument.  This  plan  may  be 
supplemented  by  sending  occasionally  to  those  in  certain 
lines  of  business  copies  of  especially  satisfadory  jobs  and 
suggesting  that  something  similar  be  produced  for  them. 

But  it  is  his  own  stationery  that  gives  a  printer  fullest 
opportunity  for  expression  of  all  that  he  has  of  art  and 
originality.  Here  he  is  unhampered  by  those  untoward 
circumstances  of  incongruous  type,  inharmonious  ink  and 
paper,  infelicitous  didion,  by  which  copy  as  it  comes  from 
customers  is  ofttimes  trammelled.  Nor  is  he  limited  as  to 
time  or  expense.  Yet,  now  as  ever,  diredness  and  simplic- 
ity will  produce  far  more  satisfadory  results — yes,  artistic 
results,  for  art  is  but  the  beautiful  way  of  doing  things — 
than  any  attempt  at  undue  elaboration,  or  ornate  illumina- 
tion, or  eerie  effed.  Too  often  the  latter  proves  merely  un- 
couth, bizarre.  Unwonted  arrangement  of  subjed-matter 
or  a  novel  description  of  the  office  will  add  greatly  to  the 
attradiveness  of  stationery,  as  shown  by  Fig.  9  and  Fig. 
10.  The  former  was  in  chocolate  brown  on  cafe'  bond;  the 
latter  on  corn  bond,  the  corporation  name  in  red,  balance 
of  type  in  black,  surrounded  by  a  one-point  rule  border 
II  X  32  picas  worked  in  silk  green,  while  in  the  center, 
beneath  the  type,  was  a  basket  ornament  in  steel-grey  tint. 

Have  distindive  and  striking  labels  for  packages,  which 
must  be  always  neatly  and  carefully  wrapped  and  tied,  and 
plainly  marked.   Untidiness  in  this  resped  will  go  far  to 


76 


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i 


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i 


ing  in  themselves  and  presented  in  a  pleasing  way;  well 
written,  with  an  occasional  serious  utterance  aside  from  its 
advertising  paragraphs  but  a  preponderance  of  fun  that  is 
of  local  application.  Mechanically,  every  detail  should  be 
as  near  perfedion  as  it  can  be  brought.  Mail  this  to  the 
regular  list,  and  in  each  of  the  first  two  or  three  numbers' 
enclose  a  self-addressed  private  post-card  inviting  the  recip- 
ient to  return  it  with  name  and  address  and  any  comment 
he  may  care  to  make,  should  he  wish  to  receive  the  pub- 
Hcation,  which  of  course  is  sent  entirely  without  charge. 

We  have  for  several  months  followed  this  plan  with  a 
booklet  which  bears  the  euphonious  if  not  euphemistic 
title  of  The  Thomas  Cat.  This  has  sixteen  pages  and  cover, 
4^  X  65^  inches,  the  pages  having  rubrication  and  wide 
margins.  The  cover,  of  dark,  heavy  stock,  is  in  three  or 
four  printings,  and  is  of  course  from  typographic  design 
save  for  a  picture  of  the  feline  whose  namesake  it  is,  and 
both  design  and  picture  change  with  each  issue.  We  fill 
the  brochure  with  such  matter  as  we  think  will  interest  and 
amuse  its  readers,  making  it  almost  purely  local.  While 
the  real  intent  and  purpose  is  to  call  attention  to  the  shop 
and  its  facilities  for  producing  best  grades  of  printing,  it 
is  kept  subservient  to  other  features  and  thereby  grows  up 
a  real  demand  for  the  magazine.  'Tis  rather  expensive, 
but  returns  its  cost  fourfold. 

Whenever  the  printer  adds  to  his  equipment  a  series 
of  new  type,  he  should,  especially  if  it  be  intended  prima- 
rily for  stationery  and  commercial  work,  print  a  number 
of  samples  showing  just  the  effed  of  this  new  type  when 
corredly  displayed  in  a  variety  of  forms  on  paper  of  proper 
shade  and  texture.  Manufadurers  are  sometimes  willing 
to  furnish  without  charge,  for  the  sake  of  the  publicity  so 


obtained,  the  stock  for  these  samples.  They  should  be  sent 
to  all,  whether  customers  or  not,  who  are  likely  to  become 
interested.  Frequently  the  orders  from  new  customers,  in 
dired  response  to  these  specimens,  will  repay  the  cost  of 
the  type,  while  patrons  thus  gained  are  almost  certain  to 
remain,  being  those  who  are  attraded  by  merit  rather  than 
low  prices  or  other  empty  argument.  This  plan  may  be 
supplemented  by  sending  occasionally  to  those  in  certain 
lines  of  business  copies  of  especially  satisfadory  jobs  and 
suggesting  that  something  similar  be  produced  for  them. 

But  it  is  his  own  stationery  that  gives  a  printer  fullest 
opportunity  for  expression  of  all  that  he  has  of  art  and 
originality.  Here  he  is  unhampered  by  those  untoward 
circumstances  of  incongruous  type,  inharmonious  ink  and 
paper,  infelicitous  didion,  by  which  copy  as  it  comes  from 
customers  is  ofttimes  trammelled.  Nor  is  he  limited  as  to 
time  or  expense.  Yet,  now  as  ever,  diredness  and  simplic- 
ity will  produce  far  more  satisfadory  results — yes,  artistic 
results,  for  art  is  but  the  beautiful  way  of  doing  things — 
than  any  attempt  at  undue  elaboration,  or  ornate  illumina- 
tion, or  eerie  effed.  Too  often  the  latter  proves  merely  un- 
couth, bizarre.  Unwonted  arrangement  of  subjed-matter 
or  a  novel  description  of  the  office  will  add  greatly  to  the 
attradiveness  of  stationery,  as  shown  by  Fig.  9  and  Fig. 
10.  The  former  was  in  chocolate  brown  on  cafe'  bond;  the 
latter  on  corn  bond,  the  corporation  name  in  red,  balance 
of  type  in  black,  surrounded  by  a  one-point  rule  border 
II  X  32  picas  worked  in  silk  green,  while  in  the  center, 
beneath  the  type,  was  a  basket  ornament  in  steel-grey  tint. 

Have  distindive  and  striking  labels  for  packages,  which 
must  be  always  neatly  and  carefully  wrapped  and  tied,  and 
plainly  marked.   Untidiness  in  this  resped  will  go  far  to 


I 


78 


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79 


destroy  the  favorable  opinion  of  an  office  created  by  cor- 
red  composition  and  careful  presswork.  It  is  desirable, 
too,  to  adopt  a  certain  shade  for  wrapping-paper — dark 
green  is  perhaps  best,  although  blue  or  yellow  or  even  red 


Robert  C.  Mallette  Prtsident 


William  H.  Jackson  Secretary 


acnrral  3!ob  liDrintrrs; 
^atrrbur^ 


Conn. 


FIG.    9 PLAIN   LETTER-HEAD 


will  be  found  far  superior  to  white  or  manilla,  and  but 
slightly  more  expensive — and  use  it  as  consistently  as  if 
it  were  the  firm's  trade-mark.  Use  colored  twine  with  this, 
rather  than  white. 

An  imprint  has  been  called  the  cheapest  form  of  adver- 
tising, and  its  use  on  every  possible  occasion  advocated. 
Within  bounds,  this  is  well;  but  he  who  is  really  striving 


THE  BETTER  GRADES  OF  PRINTING  AS  ARRANGED  AND 
FINISHED  BY  THE  JACKSON  PRINT  SHOP  A  CORPORATION 
IN  WATERBURY  CONNECTICUT  OF  WHICH  R.  C.  MALLETTE 
IS  THE  PRESIDENT  AND  W.  H.  JACKSON  IS  THE  SECRETARY 

FIG.     10 THE   DESIGN   ELABORATED 


for  the  finer  classes  of  work  will  hardly  care  to  place  his 
imprint  on  a  cheap  dodger,  if  he  still  handle  those  jobs. 
Nor  will  he,  nor  should  anyone,  ever  use  it  on  a  bill-head 
or  other  item  of  stationery;  that  is  carrying  it  beyond  all 
reason.    But  an  imprint  that  is  small,  well-designed,  unob- 


trusive, yet  perfedly  legible,  may  well  be  added  to  such 
work  as  catalogues,  booklets,  programmes,  folders,  and 
the  like. 


THE 

QUICh 

PRIfVT 


COwn. 


FIG.    I  I 


AN  IMPRINT 


But,  in  the  last  analysis,  there's  nothing  that  will  give 
any  printshop  an  advertisement  so  thorough,  so  lasting, 
so  eminently  satisfactory,  as  a  well-earned  and  well-main- 
tained reputation  for  doing  good  work  and  delivering  its 
orders  when  promised. 


s 


I 


ft 


II 


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CHAPTER  XVI 

EMPLOYER  AND   EMPLOYEES 

DEEP  into  the  heart  of  the  youth  who  is  setting  out 
on  the  beginnings  of  his  long  journey  toward  per- 
fection in  printing  should  be  burned  one  thought 
beyond  all  others — loyalty!  Loyalty  to  the  office  and  its 
ideals;  loyalty  to  those  who  employ  him  and  instrud:  him 
patiently  and  thoroughly ;  loyalty  to  the  implied  as  well  as 
the  expressed  wishes  of  those  in  authority;  loyalty  to  him- 
self and  his  opportunities.  For  thus  only  can  he  become 
more  than  one  who  waits  with  heavy  eyes  for  the  moment 
of  release  from  irksome  tasks.  How  concretely  this  idea 
of  loyalty  is  expressed  by  Elbert  Hubbard  in  the  Cosmo- 
politan ! 

If  the  concern  where  you  are  employed  is  all  wrong,  and  the  Old  Man 
a  curmudgeon,  it  may  be  well  for  you  to  go  to  the  Old  Man  and  confiden- 
tially, quietly  and  kindly  tell  him  that  he  is  a  curmudgeon.  Explain  to  him 
that  his  policy  is  absurd  and  preposterous.  Then  show  him  how  to  reform 
his  ways,  and  you  might  offer  to  take  charge  of  the  concern  and  cleanse  it 
of  all  its  secret  faults. 

Do  this,  or  if  for  any  reason  you  should  prefer  not,  then  take  your  choice 
of  these:  Get  out,  or  get  in  line.  You  have  got  to  do  one  or  the  other — 
now  make  your  choice. 

If  you  work  for  a  man,  in  heaven's  name  work  for  him! 

If  he  pays  you  wages  that  supply  you  your  bread  and  butter,  work  for 
him  —  speak  well  of  him,  think  well  of  him,  stand  by  him  and  stand  by 
the  institution  he  represents. 

I  think  if  I  worked  for  a  man  I  would  work  for  him.  I  would  not  work 
for  him  a  part  of  the  time,  and  then  the  rest  of  the  time  work  against  him. 
I  would  give  an  undivided  service  or  none. 


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If  put  to  the  pinch,  an  ounce  of  loyalty  is  worth  a  pound  of  cleverness. 

If  you  must  vilify,  condemn  and  eternally  disparage,  why,  resign  your 
position,  and  when  you  are  outside,  damn  to  your  heart's  content.  But,  I 
pray  you,  so  long  as  you  are  a  part  of  an  institution,  do  not  condemn  it. 
Not  that  you  will  injure  the  institution — not  that — but  when  you  dispar- 
age the  concern  of  which  you  are  a  part,  you  disparage  yourself  far  more. 

So  close  to  each  other  do  master  and  men  come  in  an 
office  of  this  description  that  there  can  scarcely  fail  to  grow 
up  between  them,  as  has  already  been  stated,  a  spirit  of 
fellowship,  of  comity  and  hearty  good-will,  that  lasts  for 
years  of  mutual  toil  and  often  through  longer  years  of 
separation.  This  is  greatly  to  be  desired;  more,  it  is  neces- 
sary if  employer  and  employees  are  to  work  together  in 
harmony  for  the  best  interests  of  each.  And  so  firmly 
allied  are  these  interests  that  the  workman  who  is  disloyal 
to  his  employer  is  disloyal  to  himself,  the  employer  who 
fails  to  instrud  and  develop  his  men  and  bring  out  the 
best  that  is  in  them  is  suffering  loss  equal  to  theirs,  or 
greater. 

In  no  way  can  this  be  shown  better  than  by  the  condud 
of  the  men  during  the  absence  of  the  foreman.  He  who 
is  loyal  will  do  his  accustomed  tasks  as  steadily,  as  quietly, 
as  thoroughly  as  if  the  eyes  of  authority  were  upon  him; 
he  who  is  disloyal,  though  perhaps  almost  unconsciously 
so,  will  work  but  little,  and  that  indifferently,  or  cease 
altogether. 

What  is  needed — nay,  is  urgently  demanded — is  the 
man  or  boy  who  will  do  his  work  well  and  carefully,  ask- 
ing information  whenever  he  requires  it  to  give  better 
understanding  of  the  job  in  hand,  but  using  his  brains  as 
nimbly  as  his  fingers;  constantly  fulfilHng  his  tasks  as  well 
as  he  can;  never  idling.  One  thing  completed,  he  will  not 
"kill  time"  until  the  foreman  calls  him  for  another,  but 


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s 


will  in  the  spirit  if  not  the  adual  words  of  some  of  our 
men  say  "And  what  is  next?"  Such  a  one  will  be  as  faith- 
ful in  the  delivery  of  that  which  he  has  sold  to  his  em- 
ployer—  his  time,  his  skill,  his  knowledge — as  in  accurate 
weighing  or  measuring  of  merchandise  were  he  a  grocer  or 
a  draper;  shortcomings  in  the  one  case  being  as  reprehen- 
sible as  short  values  In  the  other. 

Of  course  the  prime  requisite  in  the  making  of  such  a 
workman  Is  character.  Without  that  none  can  rightly  suc- 
ceed, in  this  or  any  other  calling.  But  much  depends  also 
upon  the  training  and  environment  of  the  apprentice.  In 
a  small  office  It  Is  scarcely  possible  to  do  otherwise  than 
have  a  boy  for  errands  and  general  office  work,  whose  time 
when  not  thus  employed  is  spent  in  learning  the  rudiments 
of  the  trade.  In  very  many  offices  he  is  taught  little;  he  is 
simply  allowed  to  pick  up  what  he  can,  with  slight  attempt 
to  arrange  or  classify  the  scraps  of  knowledge  as  they  come 
to  him,  without  an  understanding  of  the  reasons  for  any- 
thing. Now,  any  apprentice  who  manifests  Interest  and 
aptitude  should  be  placed  diredly  in  charge  of  a  compe- 
tent journeyman,  compositor  or  pressman,  and  given  from 
day  to  day  sound  and  careful  Instrudion  in  the  ways  of 
doing  work,  and  the  reason.  He  should  be  advanced  as 
rapidly  as  possible,  making  sure  always  that  one  proposi- 
tion is  thoroughly  understood  and  capable  of  demonstra- 
tion before  proceeding  to  another.  In  this  office  the  task 
of  instrudion  would  fall  to  the  foreman  or  the  pressman. 
It  Is  not  easy.  It  requires  infinite  patience  and  imposes 
constant  Interruption  of  tasks  that  may  demand  pressing 
attention;  but  the  wise  foreman  will  never  negledt  his  ap- 
prentice. His  endeavor  will  be  to  so  train  the  lad  that  he 
can  do  his  own  work,  subject  only  to  wise  direction  and 


criticism.  Not  to  lay  out  and  plan  details,  but  merely  to 
Indicate  In  general  what  Is  desired,  leaving  the  working 
out  thereof  to  the  learner.  At  first  this  will  be  difficult 
and  will  require  unceasing  supervision  and  correction;  and 
if  the  lad  should  fail  to  make  progress  after  some  weeks 
of  such  Instrudlon,  It  would  be  well  for  him  and  well  for 
the  craft  were  he  dismissed  with  advice  to  seek  employ- 
ment In  some  trade  for  which  he  is  better  fitted. 

Seek  to  develop  each  man's  Individuality,  especially  In 
the  matter  of  designing  and  composition,  and  In  color 
work.  Reasonable  conformity  with  the  style  or  rules  of 
the  office  Is  necessary,  but  beyond  this  do  not  insist  that 
all  work  must  be  given  a  certain  treatment.  Each  job,  or 
possibly  group  of  jobs,  should  be  handled  as  If  there  were 
then  nothing  else  In  the  world,  and  such  display  given  as 
will  best  signify  the  purpose  of  the  work  and  the  use  to 
which  It  will  be  put. 

Of  necessity,  there  Is  greater  sense  of  comradeship,  of 
equality,  in  a  small  office  than  In  a  larger  one,  and  this  Is 
likely  to  foster  a  feeling  of  loyalty.  Hence,  appreciation 
of  work  well  done  and  criticism  of  what  Is  not  so  good 
should  be  made  with  this  fad  in  mind.  Dispense  judicious 
praise  when  It  is  deserved,  more  freely  than  blame  when 
that  Is  deserved.  But  do  not  praise  or  blame  Indiscrimi- 
nately. Enlarge  upon  that  which  Is  more  than  ordinarily 
excellent,  point  out  that  which  is  below  the  standard;  so 
shall  you  obtain  more  of  the  former  and  less  of  the  latter. 
Make  your  men  feel  that  you  have  confidence  in  them; 
that  you  rely  upon  their  honor  and  Integrity;  that  you 
exped  them  to  work  faithfully  and  well,  but  will  exad 
from  them  no  more  than  you  yourself  are  willing  to  give 
and  do.   Depend  upon  It,  if  they  prove  the  right  sort  of 


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men  they  will  respond  In  kind,  and  the  work  of  the  office 
will  go  smoothly  and  well.  Listen  to  their  suggestions — 
their  ideas  may  often  be  of  great  value.  Give  them  free 
access  to  your  library  of  trade  journals  and  printers'  books; 
call  their  attention  to  articles  of  interest  or  usefulness; 
consult  with  them  sometimes  on  matters  pertaining  to  the 
welfare  of  the  office,  but  never  allow  dilation  from  them. 
Thus  can  you  create  in  them  a  livelier  sense  of  mutual 
responsibility  for  the  maintenance  and  upbuilding  of  the 
business,  and  better  fit  them  for  their  own  part  in  it,  here 
or  elsewhere.  For  a  willing  and  cheerful  disposition,  and 
the  spirit  of  loyalty  already  commended,  will  go  far  to 
counterad  minor  faults  in  man  or  boy. 


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CHAPTER  XVII 

SMALL  ECONOMIES  AND  TIME-SAVERS 

THESE  are  small  only  by  comparison  and  because 
they  appertain  to  matters  usually  negledled  and 
considered  of  small  moment,  or  have  to  do  with 
details  that  are  often  overlooked.  Assuredly,  a  saving  of 
fifty  per  cent,  is  worth  while,  and  at  least  so  much  can  be 
made  in  many  ways  by  the  exercise  of  care  and  forethought 
in  providing  means  of  working  rapidly  and  effectively. 
Much  time  can  be  saved  by  throwing  out  that  cigarbox  full 
of  tangled  skeins  and  knots  of  strings.  In  its  stead  fasten 
to  the  ceiling,  over  the  stone  or  makeup  bank,  or  each  if 
they  be  widely  separated,  a  holder  and  cone  of  page-cord, 
its  loose  end  within  reach  of  stoneman  and  compositor  or 
makeup.  Each  job  is  tied,  both  before  and  after  printing, 
with  fresh  cord  from  this  cone,  and  strings  removed  from 
pages  or  jobs  are  tossed  at  once  into  the  waste-basket. 
There  is  then  no  danger  that  a  page  will  pi  when  knotted 
string  is  unwound — though  the  use  of  pieced  page-cord 
can  never  be  justified.  Besides,  life  is  far  too  fleeting  to 
pay  a  man  fifteen  dollars  a  week  for  winding  and  unwind- 
ing bits  of  twine  that  cost  originally  about  forty  cents 
a  mile. 

Instead  of  laying  down  a  few  sheets  of  manilla  and 
tearing  from  them  as  occasion  demands  a  ragged  wrapper, 
buy  your  special  shade  of  paper  in  rolls  and  keep  two  or 
three  widths  in  cutters  such  as  druggists  and  grocers  use. 


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These  should  be  fastened  to  the  table  where  wrapping  is 
done  Have  cones  of  cotton  and  balls  of  twine  beside  the 
cutters,  and  gummed  labels  and  tags  also.  Instruft  the 
boy  to  seal  in  ream  packages  all  stationery  not  padded, 

and  label  each  package. 

Mention  has  already  been  made  of  the  importance  ot 
keeping  at  hand  a  plentiful  supply  of  tympan  sheets  and 
proof-paper  in  all  sizes.  Cut  quantities  of  mandla  or  tele- 
graph-blank paper  for  pencil  use  in  the  office  and  for  those 
who  visit  it.  This  should  be  not  larger  than  6  x  9  mches 
and  may  be  padded  without  backs,  one  or  more  pads  be- 
ing kept  on  each  desk  and  table. 

Don't  try  to  save  all  the  scrap  stock,  especially  if  from 
cheap  grades.  Nothing  less  than  three  inches  in  width  will 
pay  for  storage,  and  then  only  if  from  cardboard,  folio  or 
bond;  all  smaller  trim  should  go  at  once  into  the  waste. 
And  don't  try  to  retain  any  cuttings  unless  they  can  be 
found  and  identified  instantly;  for  time  spent  in  searching 
aimlessly  will  cost  far  more  than  to  have  cut  the  job  from 
full  sheets.  We  whip  a  bit  of  twine  around  each  end  ot  a 
pile  of  trim  and  store  it,  each  quality  by  itself,  on  shelves 
of  a  closet  used  for  no  other  purpose.   Each  package  is 
also  marked  to  show  name  and  weight  of  stock,  size  ot 
slip,  and  number.   Thus, 

150   PARAGON    LINEN yX   I  7/20 

signifies  that  here  are  1 50  pieces  of  20-pound  Paragon 
Linen  7x17  inches.  To  do  this  requires  but  a  moment 
of  the  stockman's  time,  yet  saves  many  minutes  when  the 

stock  is  wanted. 

Further,  having  a  job  whereon  stock  from  the  scrap- 
closet  can  be  used  advantageously,  do  not  be  so  foolish  as 
to  give  the  customer  all  the  benefit  of  that  faft.  You  should 


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ascertain  the  number  of  full  sheets  required,  and  charge 
him  with  their  cost.  To  do  otherwise  were  to  deliberately 
sacrifice  legitimate  profit  for  no  good  purpose.  You  are 
entitled  to  that — it  is  one  of  the  by-produdts  of  your  estab- 
lishment; and  those  in  authority  at  any  great  manufactur- 
ing corporation  will  tell  you  that  fullest  utilization  of  all 
by-produds  is  necessary  that  profits  may  be  realized  and 
dividends  declared. 

Akin  to  the  colledling  of  a  quantity  of  miscellaneous 
and  useless  scrap  is  the  mania  for  buying  "seconds"  in 
cardboard  and  paper.  Such  stock  may  be  offered  at  tempt- 
ing prices,  but  it  is  very  seldom  a  bargain.  Its  first  cost  is 
low,  its  quality  almost  always  low  also;  it  is  apt  to  vary  in 
color,  texture,  weight,  or  finish;  the  printer  who  uses  it  and 
the  customer  who  pays  for  it  will  alike  be  disappointed. 
Or  if  one  lot  chance  to  be  acceptable,  it  is  very  doubtful 
if  more  could  be  obtained  to  fill  a  duplicate  order,  and 
the  customer  must  then  be  given  something  else,  perhaps 
at  a  loss  to  the  oflice  of  a  part  of  the  profit.  Possibly  the 
customer  cannot  or  will  not  understand  why  he  should  be 
asked  more  for  the  job  now  than  at  first,  and  in  a  huff  he 
betakes  himself  and  his  work  elsewhere.  This  inability  to 
duplicate  an  order  at  original  price  is  another  strong  argu- 
ment against  selling  scrap  stock  at  less  than  the  price  of 
full  sheets. 

Nor  should  you  give  customers  all  the  benefit  of  your 
labor-saving  and  time-saving  machinery  and  devices.  No 
other  manufacturers  do  this — printers  would  not  were 
they  better  business  men.  These  things  are  the  outcome 
of  your  capital,  your  industry,  your  sagacity ;  jyo//,  then,  are 
the  one  to  profit  by  them.  You  plan  to  run  a  certain  job 
two  on;  you  find  that  pressmen  are  busier  than  compos- 


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itors,  or  that  by  setting  two  more  the  job  can  be  worked 
four  on  at  a  saving;  this  saving  is  yours,  not  the  custom- 
er's. When  duplicate  elec^tros  are  obtained  to  lessen  the 
number  of  impressions  on  a  run,  they  should  be  paid  for 
by  the  customer,  not  the  office.  When  jobs  for  two  cus- 
tomers are  worked  in  one  form,  each  should  pay  full  rates. 
It  would  seem  absurd  to  lay  stress  upon  these  matters, 
were  it  not  that  their  principles  are  being  violated  day  after 
day  by  printers  who  ought  to  know  better,  whose  failure 
to  do  better  is  injuring  the  trade  at  large  and  is  seriously 
curtailing  their  own  dividends. 


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89 


ADVERTISEMENTS 


THE  GOLDING  PRESS 


IT  is  often  the  degree  of  foresight  displayed  in  seled:- 
ing  the  machinery  necessary  for  the  manufacture  of 
printed  matter  that  makes  the  distinction  between  a 
successful  master  printer  and  he  who  is  most  decidedly 
the  opposite.  A  majority  of  investors  seemingly  lose  sight 
of  the  fad:  that  their  principal  investment  is  in  the  expert 
labor  necessary  for  the  produdion  of  the  work,  and  not, 
as  one  writer  has  said,  in  the  equipment  of  the  press-room. 
It  costs  considerably  more  money  for  expert  labor  to  ope- 
rate a  platen  printing-press  for  one  year  than  the  press 
costs  when  new — with  the  single  exception  of  the  half- 
super-royal  size.  For  these  reasons,  any  machines  or  class 
of  machines  which  will  give  their  operators  the  largest 
returns  from  a  given  investment  in  expert  labor  are  the 
most  desirable  from  the  standpoint  of  the  investor. 

Again,  the  earning  power  of  a  press  cannot  be  deter- 
mined by  the  price  asked  for  it  by  its  manufacturer,  but 
the  decision  should  be  made  after  the  most  thorough  and 
critical  investigation.  In  this  connedion  it  is  well  to  remem- 
ber that  a  guarantee  concerning  the  speed  at  which  the 
machine  in  question  can  safely  be  run  means  absolutely 
nothing  regarding  its  ability  to  produce  work  at  a  profit. 
A  printing-press  is  an  intermittent  machine  and  is  stand- 
ing idle  one-third  of  the  time  while  the  work  is  being 
made  ready.  It  must  be  capable  of  being  adually  fed  while 


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running  at  a  high  rate  of  speed  when  in  operation,  and  also 
contain  those  attachments  which  will  materially  reduce  the 
time  necessary  in  making  the  work  ready.  If  a  machine 
be  judged  on  any  other  basis  than  this,  it  is  very  apt  to 
turn  out  a  losing  investment  for  its  owner. 

The  Golding  Jobbers  are  sold  under  an  absolute  guar- 
antee that  they  will  turn  out  a  given  amount  of  work  at 
an  adual  saving  in  cost  for  labor  over  and  above  what  can 
be  procured  by  the  operation 
of  any  other  form  of  platen 
press.  Their  ability  to  fulfill 
this    guarantee   has    never 
been  questioned  by  a  mas- 
ter printer  who  has  made  an 
adual  test.  Where  one  Gold- 
ing Jobber  is  sold,  others  are 
bound  to  follow.  Write  to 
Golding  &  Company*s  near- 
est store  for  full  illustrated 
catalogues  and  a  list  of  the 
users  of  the  Golding  Jobber. 
Ask  for  quotations  and  guar 
antees.  Their  stores  are  lo- 
cated in  Boston,  New  York, 
Philadelphia  and  Chicago. 


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♦ 


STANDARD   LINE 
NICKEL-ALLOY 


TYPES 


If  contemplating  putting 
in  new  type  faces  or  just 
about  to  start  in  the  busi- 
ness, don't  forget  that  we 
manufacture  Types  and 
Borders  of  the  best  ma- 
terials and  workmanship. 


THE  KEYSTONE 
TYPE    FOUNDRY 

Ninth  and  Spruce  Streets 

PHILADELPHIA,   PA..  V.  S.  A. 


♦ 


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PERFECTION 


IN 


nnting-Orhce  rurniture 


No,  7  Single  Polhemus  Cabinet 


Our  line  of  modern  Printing-Office  Furniture  is  the  standard  the  world  over.  Our 
large  new  Cabinets,  Stone  Frames  and  Standing  Galleys  are  revelations.  Our  com- 
plete catalogues  explain  it  all.    Sent  free,  on  application,  to  all  recognized  printers. 

The  Hamilton  Manufacturing  Company 


Eastern  Office  and  Warehouse 

Middletown,  New  York 


Main  Office  and  Factories 

Two  Rivers,  Wisconsin 


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NFORMATION    OBSCURED 


Date  Due 


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COLUMBIA  UNIVERS  TY  L  BRARIES 


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END  OF 
TITLE 


